Airlines are warning passengers of major disruption to flights to and from Italy tomorrow as the country stages a national strike.

Air traffic control and ground handling services will stage various walk-outs from just after midnight tonight until midnight Friday.

Trains, ferries and motorways will also be affected.

EasyJet said it was working to minimise the impact of this strike, but was expecting a number of cancellations and potential delays.

It said any customers on affected flights will be contacted via email and SMS.

Alitalia has already cancelled several flights but said flights set to operate on 25 October during the peak times between 7 am to 10 am and from 6 pm to 9 pm will operate as scheduled.

It has also cancelled two flights this evening and one service early Saturday morning.

“Alitalia has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes, in order to rebook passengers affected by cancellations onto the first available flights on the same day,” the airline said.

The strike has been called by trade unions protesting over low wages and poor working conditions.

Rome is expected to be the most affected city as general strike action is also planned by public and private sector employees.