Unions at Swissport were protesting at split shifts, understaffing and stress of work, which regularly saw crews of only two handlers assigned to the baggage of whole flights. In September last year, Swissport took over its rival Flightcare, and unions say the company has been introducing its cost-cutting methods at Zaventem since then. The company also recently lost a major client, Jetairfly, to rival Aviapartner.

The strike led to 59 cancelled flights and passengers on other flight leaving without their luggage. Incoming passengers had to depart the airport without their luggage or search for hours amid tens of thousands of bags. Brussels Airlines threatened to cancel its contract with Swissport, while federal transport minister Melchior Wathelet threatened to fine the unions for each day the strike continued.

Swissport CEO Per Utnegaard showed up personally on Thursday evening to speak to union representatives, who presented him with three demands in addition to the plan worked out previously with management: the end of two-man teams; a maximum of 300 pieces of baggage per flight; and a personal guarantee that all agreements would be respected. “He agreed to everything immediately,” said a union representative. “He was really angry.”

On Friday, baggage operations at the airport were back to normal, with Swissport also working to clear the backlog of luggage left behind – a mountain of bags that at one point numbered 20,000. The airport company said passengers should wait to be contacted rather than show up to claim their luggage.