According to a Bloomberg News report, Fiat Auto workers protesting a job cuts plan forced the closure of Milan’s Malpensa airport for half an hour on Friday.

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Workers from Fiat’s Arese factory, which makes Alfa Romeos, occupied check-in desks and departure halls at the airport, which is about 45 minutes by car from Milan, the report said.

The report said that air traffic controllers in Brussels closed traffic to Malpensa for 30 minutes because of the protest.

About 15 flights, some of them intercontinental, were unable to land, the report added.

Fiat Auto workers have been angrily protesting plans announced last month to axe 8,000 Italian jobs to cut costs at the struggling car maker. Sicilian Fiat workers recently blocked roads leading to the island’s only airport.

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