All departing flights from Brussels Airport and Charleroi Airport in Belgium will be cancelled this Thursday, potentially leaving thousands of Brits stranded.

The cancellations will help “ensure the safety of passengers and staff” amid nationwide industrial strike action organised by a joint trade union, according to Brussels airport.

Arriving flights may also be impacted at Brussels Airport, and Charleroi Airport will only be accepting arrival flights from the Schengen zone.

Security staff and baggage handlers are expected to stage a mass walkout in protest of the Government’s plans to reform pensions.

A spokesperson for Brussels Airport said: “To ensure the safety of passengers and staff, we have decided, in consultation with the airlines, not to operate any departing passenger flights on 13 February.”

“Airlines will contact passengers whose flights have been impacted. We ask passengers not to come to the airport on the day.”

Travellers from Brussels Airport are being encouraged to check the status of their flights with the airline or through the Brussels Airport website or app.

Brussels-South Airport in Charleroi confirmed passengers should be contacted by their airline to make rearrangements.

It said: “Due to the lack of staff present to ensure operations run safely, all flights scheduled to depart from Charleroi Airport have been cancelled. Only incoming Schengen flights will be operating.

“Once again, we regret the impact of these actions on our passengers’ travel plans and apologise for the inconvenience”.

Ivaylo Danailov, co-founder of airline compensation site SkyRefund, confirmed to the Daily Express passengers may be entitled to compensation up to €600 euros (£520) if their flight is delayed over 3 hours or cancelled less than 14 days before departure.

He added: “If your flight is cancelled, and you choose to be reimbursed, you are legally entitled to a full refund for both your cancelled flight and your return flight because you were unable to reach your destination.”