An unscheduled five-hour strike by baggage handlers at Rome's Fiumicino and Ciampino airports on the afternoon of 18 December resulted in low-cost carrier Ryanair cancelling five flights from Ciampino, grounding hundreds of passengers.

The flights affected were bound for Paris, Valencia, Cagliari, London and Barcelona. In Fiumicino thousands of incoming passengers had to wait hours before receiving their luggage, which was left on the ground or locked in the baggage hold.

The strike, which began at around 15.30, was organised by employees of Flightcare after they discovered they had not been paid yet for the month of December.

Flightcare handles baggage for Malaysia Airlines, Kuwait Airways and Aerolineas Argentinas at Fiumicino, as well as being responsible for the majority of Ryanair's flights at Ciampino.

On a lighter note, until 6 January, which is a public holiday, passengers arriving into Fiumicino will be welcomed by 22 students from the local Istituto d'Istruzione Superiore Paolo Baffi who will be on hand to provide information about the services available at the airport.