Alitalia cancelled 22 flights on Monday due to a labour strike, the first since the airline was restructured and relaunched last week under a new network and private ownership.

Workers from the SDL union held the four-hour strike to protest new labour contracts and the criteria used to hire employees as part of Alitalia's relaunch.

The flights cancelled included six to international destinations in Europe and the Middle East, the SDL union said.

Analysts are watching to see whether a restructured Alitalia with weakened unions is able to avoid the labour strife which repeatedly frustrated the efforts of its predecessor to turn itself around and report a profit.