As French air traffic controllers announced their intention to strike next Wednesday, Irish airlines and the Irish Aviation Authority will monitor the situation for the potential impact on Irish air travellers.
The French controllers' planned action is to protest against EU Commission plans to liberalise European air space and air traffic control, known as the "single sky" proposal.
An Aer Lingus spokeswoman said the airline was monitoring the situation. The possibility of rescheduling flights might be considered closer to the day. The airline has three Dublin flights to and from Paris on Wednesday, one to Nice and two flights from Cork to Paris.
Ryanair operates four return flights from Dublin to Paris Beauvais on Wednesday. It also has flights from Stansted and continental European airports to a number of destinations in France.
A spokeswoman said the company was "closely monitoring" the situation.
EU transport ministers are expected to discuss the issue at a meeting on Monday in Luxembourg.
The idea of a "single sky" is to liberalise the market, where companies could compete for air traffic control contracts at different airports.
This is an issue long under discussion by the Federation of Air Traffic Control unions in Europe, and French controllers, who want to maintain control of their own air space, are the first to confirm their intention for industrial action between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Irish time.
A spokeswoman for the Irish Aviation Authority said that if French controllers stop operations, flights into and out of French airspace could be halted completely.
Alternatively a restricted or reduced flight service would operate, with perhaps only a 30 per cent capacity on the day.
Flights that overfly French airspace would have to be rerouted and would take longer. The French controllers are expected to issue a "notam" or "notice to airmen" closer to the day of the strike, when they will outline to all airlines and air traffic controllers, exactly what their planned action is.
The "single sky" proposal is happening at a "political level", according to the spokeswoman.
"The Irish Aviation Authority and the Department of Public Enterprise, now Transport, have been attending various meetings in Brussels over the past months and indeed years."
Ireland supports the single sky move "at all levels", she said.
