French air traffic strike to affect thousands of passengers

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A French air traffic control strike is expected to affect tens of thousands of passengers.

Most of the flights that were canceled were to fly over France.

Air France said it would only run 45% of its flights.

The strike was over wages and inflation, according to the union.

Many flights to and from the country are not included in the cancelled flights.

All passengers were told this morning. The carrier runs more than 3000 flights a day.

It is inexplicable that thousands of European citizens and visitors will have their travel plans disrupted.

Passengers who are not flying to or from France are disrupted.

French law protects domestic flights in France, but not flights that fly over the country.

He said it was time for the European Union to protect overflights so that European passengers are not held to ransom by a small French air traffic control union.

Air traffic controllers in Europe should be allowed to manage flights over France to alleviate the impact.

EasyJet said it had been forced to cancel flights.

While this is outside of our control, we would like to apologize to our customers.

Some of the British Airways flights that will be canceled are ones that fly over France. There could be some delays.

The French civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cut their Friday schedules in half.

Air France only runs 45% of its short and medium-haul flights. Delays could not be ruled out.

A significant area of territory within European airspace is covered by French air traffic control, according to an aviation expert.

Most flights from the UK and Ireland to Spain and Portugal are controlled by France.

The strike would mean that some services would have to take long routes.

It was not a simple matter of other countries picking up the slack because manpower was tight, so there was little or no capacity to do this, not to mention the complexity or impossibility of handling additional flights.

Image source, Getty Images

The lack of a guarantee on recruitment for the next two years was cited as the reason for the strike.

The flight cuts affect the whole of France and will affect several airlines, theDGAC said, adding that it was currently working with Eurocontrol to help airlines avoid the country's air space.

Strikes across the aviation industry caused severe disruption to Europe's summer traffic, including ground and cabin personnel who sought pay rises to cope with increased living costs

There were several strikes by firefighters and staff at the airport.

British Airways said it would cancel 100 flights on Monday in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.

Four US flights would be affected by the cancellation.

There will be no arrivals or departures for parts of Monday afternoon as a mark of respect for the sad and unique occasion, and flights will be diverted around Windsor Castle to reduce noise during the interment.