The loss-making Italian flagship airline Alitalia cancelled 96 flights on Friday because of a strike called to protest pension reforms, the airport news agency Telenews reported. They were among 74 flights operated by Alitalia and other airlines that were cancelled at Rome's Fiumicino airport, Telenews said.
A minimum service is legally required from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (0900 to 1700 GMT). The strike call by a left-wing union is in protest at an accord reached between the government and the country's three main unions in July under which the age of retirement will be raised gradually over the coming years.