PARIS: Airlines were forced to cancel dozens of flights to and from Paris’s main airports and southern France yesterday as air traffic controllers kicked off a six-day strike to outrage.
The work stoppage comes at the height of the tourist season in a nation that attracts more foreign visitors than any other country, and follows a rail protest that affected services abroad and domestically and is still continuing in some areas.
The country’s civil aviation watchdog said about one in five flights going to and from several big cities in southern France, or taking off from Paris to the south, Spain, Portugal, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, were cancelled and passengers were experiencing delays on other services.
The watchdog said some 20 percent of flights to and from the same airports would also be cancelled today as the strike was due to continue until Sunday, warning passengers not to go to the airport “without having been guaranteed that their flight is maintained”.
Ryanair, which was forced to cancel 96 flights yesterday, slammed the strike and “called on the EU Commission to remove the right to strike from Europe’s air traffic controllers, who are once more attempting to blackmail ordinary consumers with strikes.”
EasyJet cancelled 28 flights and British Airways said eight flights had been affected.
Most of Air France’s flights were unaffected, with only 10 percent of its short and medium-haul journeys cancelled.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) airlines group also condemned the strike action. AFP
