Italian air strike

ALITALIA has cancelled hundreds of flights as workers at the state-controlled airline walked off their jobs today for a second straight day.

The strike by air and ground personnel was scheduled to last until this evening. Alitalia said it cancelled about 70% of today’s 750 scheduled flights.

About a hundred frustrated travellers, who were stranded at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport, staged a protest in front of Alitalia counters, the ANSA news agency and other news reports said.