Ryanair said it will cancel 420 Friday flights, affecting 80,000 passengers, due to an air traffic control strike in France that will limit overflights and more than halve Air France’s scheduled short and medium-haul services.
France's DGAC aviation authority earlier this week asked airlines to halve their flight schedules on Friday due to the planned strike.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passengers carried, said it will mainly be affected by the limitation on overflying France. It flies up to 3,000 flights a day across Europe during its peak season.
"It is time that the EU step in and protect overflights so that European passengers are not repeatedly held to ransom by a tiny French ATC union," Ryanair Operations Director Neal McMahon said in a statement.
Other air traffic control centres should be allowed manage overflights of France during strikes, the statement said.
Aer Lingus has also cancelled the majority of its flights operating to and from France on Friday due to the industrial action.
“Following instruction from the French Aviation Authority in response to industrial action by French air traffic controllers, we have been forced to cancel the majority of our flights operating to and from France tomorrow,” the airline said.
“We recognise the inconvenience this causes to our customers, however it is fully outside of Aer Lingus’ control. Our teams will be in direct communication with those customers impacted and are working to re-accommodate them as efficiently as possible.”
The airline added that customers who wish to apply for a refund or change their flight booking can do so free of charge.
Air France has said it will operate only 45 per cent of its short and medium-haul flights on Friday.
France’s SNCTA air control union has cited inflation and its demand to hire more people as the reasons for the walkout. — Reuters
