As striking truck drivers lifted blockades after a day of disruption on French roads, air passengers looked set to face worse problems tomorrow when flight controllers join a day of action by state workers.
The civil aviation authority (DGAC) said that as a result of the one-day strike by controllers only a minumum service was guaranteed, and just 500 international flights out of a scheduled 4,300 could go ahead as planned.
Travellers also risked disturbances on rail and bus services across France tomorrow, as thousands of state employees gather in Paris for a demonstration in defence of pension rights, pay and job security, and against privatisation.
Irish tourists and hauliers face major travel disruption because of a blockade by truck drivers and a 32-hour air traffic controllers' strike in France.
Aer Lingus announced this morning it was cancelling all of its flights to and from Paris tomorrow as a result of the air traffic controllers' action, which begins at 8 p.m. Irish time. The strike will end on Wednesday at 5.30 p.m.
The airline said intending passengers for tomorrow should contact its reservations on 0818-365000 to make alternative travel plans. Flights today and on Wednesday will operate as normal, the airline said.
Ryanair says it is likely it will have to cancel most of its flights from 6 p.m. until 6.30 a.m. on Wednesday
Major disruption is also feared in France for Irish travellers and hauliers today after truckers erected road blockades overnight across the country.
With many truck drivers holding out in their dispute over pay, threatening more wild-cat roadblocks around the country, opposition politicians said the centre-right government of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin was facing a growing wave of discontent.
Two unions - the CFDT and CGT - called today's protests by truck drivers after four others reached a last-minute pay deal.
At the height around 30 blockades were in place on Monday morning in key points across the country.
But France's traffic information service said that by early evening the truckers had lifted all the roadblocks, largely due to intervention by the authorities, which the unions said amounted to harassment.
The CFDT and the CGT acknowledged that organising such the protest was difficult after the deal struck by the four other unions.
Meanwhile, Air France said it was cancelling many short and medium-haul flights as a result of the flight controllers' strike, which was to begin tonight at t 8 p.m. and end at 5.30 a.m. on Wednesday. However most long-haul flights were assured, the company said.
Additional reporting AFP