RYANAIR CANCELS 300 FLIGHTS AFFECTING 50,000 PASSENGERS AMID MAJOR AVIATION STRIKE

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled impacting tens of thousands of passengers amid a strike.

French air traffic controllers have walked out after authorities failed to reach a deal, with the country's DGAC civil aviation authority announcing that it had asked airlines to cancel 75% of Thursday's flights at Paris Orly airport, 55% of flights at Paris Charles-De-Gaulle and 65% of flights at Marseille.

The impact of the strikes is not just being felt in France however, with the reduction in capability affecting those flights going into and over the country.

It seems that the disruption was close to being avoided after SNCTA - the biggest of France's air traffic controllers union - announced plans to call off the strike having reached a deal over working conditions. However, it came too late to avoid air traffic disruptions today, while other unions continue to have discussions.

One of the airlines most impacted by the industrial action is Ryanair, which announced that more than 300 flights today would be cancelled, impacting around 50,000 passengers. The budget airline and its boss Michael O'Leary have long been waging a war of words against the French ATC workers and unions.

In press conferences the Ryanair CEO regularly also blames French laws for "prioritising" domestic flights when ATC workers strike. He wants an EU law change so that planes flying over France on strike days are protected.

On Wednesday Mr O'Leary said: “French air traffic controllers are free to go on strike, that’s their right, but we should be cancelling French flights, not flights leaving Ireland, going to Italy, or flights from Germany to Spain or Scandinavia to Portugal.

"The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has failed for 5 years to take any action to protect overflights and the single market for air travel. We’re again calling on her to take action to protect overflights which will eliminate over 90% of these flight cancellations."

According to A4E 16,000 flights were cancelled and 85,000 delayed last year due to air traffic control strikes in Europe.

In other aviation industrial action news, an unrelated strike has been called at Heathrow Airport that will see hundreds of workers across the travel hub walk out. Unite said close to 800 workers will leave their posts from midnight on May 7 to the end of May 13 in a major display of industrial action in opposition to outsourcing. The union has strongly criticised Heathrow management for planning to outsource hundreds of roles in a cost-cutting exercise. AFS Ltd, an airline refuelling company, is also taking part in strike action on 4, 5 and 6 May.

It was also announced yesterday that airline catering strikes at Gatwick, by members of Unite employed by dNata, have been paused to allow workers to be balloted on a new settlement offer. Following negotiations, a new offer was put forward by the company.

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2024-04-25T09:38:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd