Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

TRAVEL NEWS

UPDATE: French air traffic controllers announce three more strike days

The French air traffic controllers' union has announced three extra strike days - in addition to the strike on Friday which has seen 1,000 flights cancelled.

Published: 13 September 2022 16:37 CEST
Updated: 15 September 2022 16:50 CEST
UPDATE: French air traffic controllers announce three more strike days
Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN / AFP

The SNCTA union, the main union that represents air traffic controllers, has declared its intention to strike on Friday, September 16th in a dispute over pay and working conditions.

The Direction générale de l’aviation civile (DGAC) has asked airlines to cancel half of all their flights in and out of France on Friday, and is recommending that passengers postpone their travel plans, due to the likelihood of “severe” disruption.

In total 1,000 flights have been cancelled – click HERE for full details.

The strike notice runs from Friday, September 16th at 6am to Saturday, September 17th at 6am, although it is likely that flights over the weekend will also be disrupted as airlines deal with the knock-on effects.

The SNCTA has since announced three more strike days – on Wednesday, September 28th, Thursday, September 29th and Friday, September 30th.

The full scale of the disruption for those days is not yet known, cancellations will be announced nearer the time, so check our travel page HERE for updates.

The September 16th strike notice covers all airports in France, as well as French overseas territories such as the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Gaudeloupe.

READ ALSO Your rights on delayed or cancelled flights in France

The DGAC said it is in discussions with the Eurocontrol aviation traffic manager to propose alternative routes for airlines to avoid French airspace.

The SNCTA said for its part that the strike was a response to severe inflation that is eroding spending power of its members, and worries about “future recruitment.”

The move comes as the French government is preparing to unveil its 2023 budget, which the union says fails to guarantee the DGAC’s financing and could limit its its ability to offer pay hikes.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

STRIKES

Ryanair cancels 300 flights set to fly over France due to strike

The budget airline Ryanair announced on Wednesday that it had been forced to cancel more than 300 flights set to fly over French airspace on Thursday, due to strike action by air traffic controllers that was cancelled at the last-minute.

Published: 25 April 2024 08:47 CEST
Ryanair cancels 300 flights set to fly over France due to strike

In a press release published on Wednesday, Ryanair announced that 300 of their flights had been cancelled due to a planned strike by French air traffic controllers (ATC).

“Even though it’s French ATC that are striking, most disrupted passengers are not flying to/from France but overfly French airspace en route to their destination (e.g., UK – Greece, Spain, Italy),” the company said.

According to Ryanair estimates, 50,000 passengers would be affected in some way. 

The main union participating in the strike announced on Wednesday morning that it had reached a deal with management and would be calling off industrial action, but the announcement came too late and many flights had already been cancelled. 

As a result, significant delays and widespread cancellations were still expected on Thursday.

READ MORE: ‘75% of flights cancelled’: Which French airports will be worst affected by Thursday’s disruption?

Why are overflights affected?

The overflights pass through French airspace on their way to another country, and they make up a significant percentage of the flights handled by French air traffic controllers on a daily basis.

During strikes by French air traffic controllers, overflights are likely to be delayed or diverted as airlines seek alternatives routes that go around France, rather than over it. Often, there are also cancellations, as is the case for Ryanair. 

Can I still get a refund due to a delay or cancellation of an overflight?

In terms of compensation, it makes little difference whether your flight is to/from France or simply over it, as EU compensation rules apply to all flights that either arrive at or depart from an airport in the EU/Schengen zone, or are operated by an EU-registered carrier.

Find full details on your rights and how to claim refunds HERE.

Are there plans to protect overflights?

Ryanair has been pushing for greater overflight protection for a long time, and they made several calls for change during the 2023 protests against pension reform when a number of air traffic control strikes were called.

READ MORE: Cancellations and compensation: How French strikes affect European flights

In their Wednesday memo, the company called again for the EU Commission to take action to protect overflights.

“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 percent of these flight cancellations,” Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said in the memo.

The company has also released a petition to ‘‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’, which has over 2.1m signatures.

SHOW COMMENTS