Airlines cancel flights amid French air traffic control strikes

Article updated at 5.03pm on Thursday, July 3

Ryanair and easyJet are among airlines that have been forced to cancel scores of flights, affecting thousands of passengers, because of two days of strike action by French air traffic controllers.

France’s civil aviation agency DGAC instructed airlines to revise their schedules because of the action, which is taking place today (Thursday) and tomorrow.

Ryanair said it had cancelled more than 400 flights, disrupting more than 70,000 passengers, while easyJet has been reported to have cancelled 274 flights, with the carrier confirming that 26 UK flights were impacted today and 38 tomorrow.

In an statement issued at 12.17pm, aviation analytics firm Cirium said 44 flights from the UK to France had been cancelled today, equating to 31% of services on the route, while a further 44 flights in the other direction had also been cancelled, which again equated to 31% of flights serving the route.

It added that 463 scheduled flights into French airports had been cancelled at the time of writing, equating to 22% of all scheduled arrivals into French airports, with a further 455 scheduled departures cancelled from French airports, equating to 22% of all scheduled departures.

In addition to the cancellation of flights to and from France, all services using French airspace have also been disrupted.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “Once again European families are held to ransom by French air traffic controllers going on strike. It is not acceptable that overflights over French airspace en route to their destination are being cancelled/delayed as a result of yet another French ATC strike.”

An easyJet spokesperson said: “On behalf of our passengers, we are extremely unhappy with the strike action, particularly given the current performance of French ATC which has been the leading cause of airspace delays in Europe this summer.

“Long-term solutions must be found for our customers and crew who suffer repeated disruption.”

The spokesperson added that the airline had proactively cancelled some flights in advance and contacted customers to invite them to transfer to another flight for free or to accept a refund.

It advised all customers travelling on July 3 or July 4 to check their flight status on the easyJet Flight Tracker service.

“While this [strike action] is outside our control, we will do all we can to minimise the impact,” the spokesperson said.

Jet2.com said it had not cancelled any of its flights and would try to “keep any disruption to a minimum”, but warned passengers they could face pre-departure onboard waiting times that were longer than usual.

“We will board all flights and close all gates for an on-time departure, which will allow us to depart as soon as we are advised we can,” the airline said.

Tui said it was operating flights as usual and was in close contact with authorities while monitoring the situation.

France’s second-largest air traffic controllers’ union, UNSA-ICNA, said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture, according to broadcaster France 24.

Ryanair repeated its calls for a reform of EU rules on air traffic control.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “Our advice to those planning to travel over these strike days is to speak with their travel agent or check their flight status online before travelling to the airport.”