A French air traffic control strike has affected tens of thousands of travellers, cancelling flights in France on Thursday and Friday and causing ripple effects across Europe. Ryanair, a budget airline, claimed it has been forced to cancel more than 170 flights, disrupting the vacation plans of over 30,000 people.
Two French unions were launching a two-day strike over working conditions, resulting in the cancellation of one-quarter of flights at Paris’ principal airports and half of flights at Nice’s airport. French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot slammed both the unions’ demands and their choice to strike at such a critical time for holidaymakers.
Ryanair claimed the strike impacted not just its flights to and from France, but also aircraft travelling across French airspace to locations such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, and Greece.
Its CEO, Michael O’Leary, accused air traffic controllers of “holding European families to ransom. It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers going on holidays,” he complained, urging European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take “urgent action” to ensure minimum service levels during strikes and to protect flights passing through French airspace from domestic industrial action.
Also Read:
Iran Will be a very different Country When its Supreme Leader Comes Out of Hiding
