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Passengers in Switzerland face flight disruption amid French air traffic strikes

Air passengers in Switzerland have been warned they may see flight cancellations and delays on Tuesday as strike action in France continues.

Zurich Airport, Switzerland. Photo by Fabian Joy on Unsplash
Zurich Airport, Switzerland. Photo by Fabian Joy on Unsplash

After a break of several weeks, unions have called for a day of strikes and demos on Tuesday, June 6th, as they continue to protest over French pension reform.

The latest day of action has been called ahead of an attempt in parliament on Thursday to have the pension reform bill – which has already been signed into law – cancelled.

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) says that strikes by air traffic control staff will disrupt some of their services. 

“France’s civil aviation authority expects a major impact on flights that take off or land in France. But overflights are also affected – i.e., those flights that cross French airspace to get to Spain, Portugal or the USA, for example. Long delays are to be expected,” SWISS said in a statement on Monday according to a report by Swiss news site 20min.

“Detours south or north of France will therefore be necessary in some cases, which in turn will result in further delays.”

The airline added that the strike is also having a ‘significant’ impact on Swiss flight operations.

“Swiss expects delays on numerous flights, and there may be occasional cancellations,” said a spokesperson.

Ahead of Tuesday, SWISS said it had to cancel a return flight between Geneva and Nice, with “around 120 passengers are affected”. The airline said alternative travel is being sought. 

Oliver Buchhofer, Head of Operations at Swiss, reportedly said: “We regret that our passengers are inconvenienced.

“Our employees have been working intensively for a few days to keep our flight schedule as stable as possible. Our top priority is to avoid cancellations, and we also want to operate our flights as punctually as possible, which unfortunately will not always be possible.”

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TRAIN TRAVEL

Why the ‘strategic’ Geneva to Lyon train line needs drastic improvement

Commuters on trains between Geneva and Lyon (and vice versa) have had to face a number of problems over the years. But there is a new move to drastically improve the service.

Why the 'strategic' Geneva to Lyon train line needs drastic improvement

The train services circulating several times a day between Switzerland’s second-largest city and Lyon in France are used by thousands of commuters on both sides of the border.

But these trains, operated by France’s national railway company SNCF, as well as the country’s regional rail network,TER, are subpar, according to Swiss Green Party MP Delphine Klopfenstein Broggini, who has brought this issue to Switzerland’s Federal Council.

She has sounded the alarm over the fact that many of the trains circulating between these two major cities are in poor condition, and she says the rail infrastructure on the French side of the border is dilapidated and in need of urgent upgrading.

Not only are these trains uncomfortable for passengers, Klopfenstein Broggini argues, but the outdated infrastructure also means that additional trains can’t be put into circulation.

“This link is strategic for Switzerland, as it is its gateway to southwest Europe,” Klopfenstein Broggini pointed out, so improvements on this 112-km-long line “must therefore become a priority” for the government.

What exactly is she pushing for?

“My primary goal is that there should be more, but less obsolete, direct trains running on this line,” the MP said.

“Today, there are around thirty trains which connect Zurich to Stuttgart every day. But on the Geneva to Lyon line, there are only around ten. There should be twice as many, which would alleviate the [overcrowding] situation a lot.”

But that’s not all: she also wants Swiss trains to be put into service on this line for more efficiency.

“I am also asking if it would be possible for Bern to invest in rolling stock on this line, so as to ensure its maintenance, or even its operation, in collaboration with France,” she added.

The SBB operates trains from Geneva to Milan, so Swiss trains could also run to Lyon, Klopfenstein Broggini said.

“This would be in Switzerland’s interest,” she added.

And there would also be another benefit in a more efficient train connecting Geneva with Lyon, according to the MP.

If the infrastructure were in better shape and the trains more modern, the two-hour journey between the two cities could be shortened.

That would make the commute more appealing to some of the 220,000 cross-border workers who commute to their jobs in Geneva from France by car.

“The goal is to transfer some of these motorists from road to rail,” the MP said.

The next step is for the Federal Council to discuss Klopfenstein Broggini’s proposal.

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