Nationwide strikes and protest action by workers in France have forced the cancellation of a large number of flights into and out of the country from tomorrow.
At least eight flights to and from Ireland will be affected.
Aer Lingus said it has cancelled the return flights between Dublin and Paris Charles De Gaulle at 11am because of the strike. Its 7am and 6pm flights from Dublin will still be operational and all other services to France will continue as normal.
Passengers affected have been notified by text message and email and can either take a refund or arrange an alternative journey, a spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said.
Ryanair has cancelled a total of six flights on the Dublin to Nice and Rodez routes and Knock and Reus (Barcelona) route. The company said up to 200 of its flights throughout Europe will be cancelled tomorrow due to the strike.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the striking air traffic controllers don’t care about consumers and once again called on the European Commission to end the “chaos”.
This year to date the airline said it has been forced to cancel 1,850 flights and delay over 12,000 other flights - disrupting over 2.5 million passengers - as a direct result of Belgian, French and Spanish air traffic control strikes and work to rules.
“If these people don’t want to work, then replace them with military and other controllers who do wish to work,” he added.
Ryanair advised passengers they can transfer to the next available flight free of charge or apply for a refund on their unused flight(s) at the airport ticket desk, online or by calling its reservation centre.
The protests have threatened France with fuel shortages and as a result airlines were told to cut back their flights into the country. Short-haul flights from other European countries were warned to carry enough fuel for their return journeys.
France’s DGAC civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cancel half of their flights tomorrow out of Paris’ Orly airport, and almost a third at other airports nationwide, including Paris’ largest airport, Charles de Gaulle. Most disruptions were expected to hit short- and medium-haul flights.
Additional reporting PA