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France faces more protests as pension strikes see planes and trains cancelled

Trains and planes are cancelled and a fresh wave of demos are planned for the weekend as fury grows in France over the decision of Emmanuel Macron's government to push through controversial pension reform without a parliamentary vote.

Published: 18 March 2023 09:55 CET
Updated: 18 March 2023 11:41 CET
France faces more protests as pension strikes see planes and trains cancelled
More demos are planned for Saturday against the proposed pension reforms. Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP

Several unions have announced strike extensions including rail workers and air traffic controllers, leading to places and trains being cancelled over the weekend and on Monday.

The French civil aviation authority has ordered that 30 percent of flights in and out of Paris Orly airport and 20 percent of flights in and out of Marseille airport be cancelled on Monday as air traffic controllers extend their strike. 

Weekend flights have also seen cancellations. Other airports should be unaffected by cancellations, but there may be knock-on effects and delays for airline passengers, while flights travelling over French airspace may be re-routed. Anyone who has a flight booked is advised to check with their airline.

Details of any cancellations for flights on Tuesday and Wednesday will be released on Monday, while Thursday, March 23rd, marks the next one-day mass strike, so disruption is likely.

Rail workers have also announced an extension of their strike, so train services will again be disrupted over the weekend – 4 in 5 of the normal high-speed TGV services will run, 3 in 5 Intercité services and 3 in 5 of the normal services on the local TER network.

Trains will likely be disrupted during the one-day strike on Thursday, March 23rd, but some unions are calling to continue rolling strikes, so it’s likely that the rail network will see at least some disruption through the week.

Public transport in cities including Paris is running largely as normal over the weekend, with a slightly reduced service on the RER suburban train network.

Demonstrations are planned for towns and cities across France on Saturday – these are expected to be large with the possibility of trouble flaring towards the end of the demos (from around 5pm).

Smaller spontaneous demonstrations were held in multiple cities on Thursday and Friday after the announcement that the pension reform bill was being pushed through without a parliamentary vote – around 300 arrests were made in total and in some areas protesters set fire to street furniture and vandalised public buildings.

In pictures: Barricades set on fire as pension reform protests turn violent

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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.

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