Thousands of passengers flying to, from and over France face disruption over the next six days due to a strike by air traffic controllers.
More than 60 per cent of the 4,000 members of the SNCTA and UNSA-INCA unions voted in favour of industrial action last week (see news, June 20).
The strike is set to last from today until Sunday and is set to cause widespread disruption with an estimated 50 per cent of flights likely to be grounded.
Easyjet today said it has been forced to cancel about a quarter of its flights to France, but promised affected passengers free transfers or a full refund.
Ryanair has cancelled more than 20 flights due to the industrial action. A spokesman said: "We expect further flight delays and cancellations."
The strike comes ahead of a June 30 deadline for the French government to outline its air sector budget plans for the next five years to the European Commission.
The strikers are protesting planned budgetary cuts from next year until 2019, cuts that are part of the EC's Single Sky Europe policy to reduce air navigation costs by rearranging airspace into "functional blocks".
Graham Smith