Ryanair has issued a warning regarding 170 flight cancellations, impacting the travel plans of over 30,000 passengers, due to an impending strike by French air traffic controllers.
The budget airline, known as Europe’s largest airline in terms of passenger numbers, made this decision following a request from French authorities to reduce flights at Paris airports by 40% on Friday.
The strike is scheduled to commence later on Thursday and is anticipated to disrupt all flights utilizing French airspace, resulting in widespread cancellations and delays.
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Ryanair has stated that the cancellations, spanning across both days, will affect services to and from France, as well as flights passing over the country to destinations like the UK, Greece, Spain, and Ireland.
The CEO of the group, Michael O’Leary, has been advocating for a reform led by the European Union in the air traffic control services to prevent such disruptive strikes, which have become increasingly common in recent times.
He characterized the latest strike as «recreational».
«Once again, European families are held to ransom by French air traffic controllers going on strike,» he remarked.
«It is not acceptable that flights passing over French airspace en route to their destination are being canceled or delayed due to another French ATC strike.
«It is illogical and significantly unfair to EU passengers and families embarking on vacations.»
Ryanair is urging the EU to guarantee that air traffic services are adequately staffed for the initial wave of daily departures, and also to safeguard overflights during national strikes.
«Implementing these two crucial reforms would eliminate 90% of all ATC delays and cancellations, while also shielding EU passengers from these recurring and preventable ATC disruptions resulting from yet another French ATC strike,» Mr. O’Leary added.