The air traffic controller strike in France today is another unacceptable disruption to the freedom of movement of passengers around Europe according to the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI).
Mr Tadhg Kearney, Chairman of the Air Transport Users Council (ATUC) of the CCI said: "Yet again Irish passengers will have to bear the brunt of a strike."
Up to 400 Aer Lingus passengers are stranded by the French air traffic controllers protesting against plans to unify the continent's airspace. Other limited ATC action is being taken in Italy, Portugal, Greece and Hungary.
Only one of today’s scheduled Aer Lingus flights on the Dublin/ Paris route will operate as normal - Flight number E1528/529. All other Aer Lingus flights to France are cancelled.
In efforts to minimise disruption to passengers Aer Lingus has replaced the plane on flight EI528 with a larger aircraft.
"The larger plane will take an extra 120 people," Aer Lingus spokeswoman Grainne O'Malley told ireland.com. "This figure amounts to about 20 per cent of those whose flights are cancelled," she said.
Aer Lingus has also put a larger aircraft on their Brussels route to afford some passengers the option of, according to Ms O’Malley, "flying to Brussels and travelling overland to Paris."
Aer Lingus flights to Italy are unaffected. Those that had been routed over French airspace have been re-routed over Holland.
Ryanair has one return flight to and from France today: FR28 7.35 p.m. out of Dublin to Paris and the FR29 10.25 p.m. from Paris to Dublin. Passengers for these flights should check in as normal.
All other Ryanair flights to and from France had been cancelled. Passengers whose flights had been cancelled should contact the reservation office to rebook an alternative flight or apply for a refund.
The strike will cause disruption and delays for Irish air passengers flying to and from European destinations today.
The majority of flights to and from France have been cancelled. Flights overflying French airspace are likely to be delayed.
The industrial action began at 6 a.m. and is scheduled to run until 11 p.m. The protest is against plans to unify the continent's airspace.
"There should be a single system," says Mr Kearney, "where no individual country would have the capacity to bring international air traffic control to a standstill.