PASSENGERS at Southampton Airport could face disruption due to an air traffic control strike in Italy.

Airport bosses have advised passengers flying to Italy to turn up as normal for their flight despite the four-hour strike, which has caused major disruption at other UK airports and forced airlines to cancel dozens of flights.

The only flight from Southampton to Italy is scheduled to depart for Verona at 12.20pm, though at the moment it has an estimated one hour delay.

Airport duty manager Trevor Compton said: “We want people to check in as normal at the moment – we’re expecting an hour delay but it’s only an estimate.”

Elsewhere the strike, which lasts from 11.30am to 3.30pm UK time, has led to Ryanair cancelling 96 flights to and from Italy, including four return services involving flights to and from the UK.

EasyJet has had to cancel up to 60 flights and said up to 20 of its cancellations would affect flights into and out of the UK.

Other UK carriers, including BA, are also affected by the action.