A strike by French air traffic controllers is set to impact flights using the country’s airspace until 1900 this evening.
Industrial action began at 0500 this morning and airlines were told to reduce flights to and from France by 30 per cent. Some cancellations have been made to services that fly through French airspace onto other destinations including Spain. France’s Directorate General for Civil Aviation has said that the biggest impact is likely to be in southern areas of France.
British Airways said it had made only “a handful” of cancellations, while Ryanair has cancelled around 80 flights and Easyjet was expecting to axe around 50.
A BA spokeswoman said: “We have been able to put on larger aircraft on subsequent flights, we have a 747 going to Barcelona and Nice and larger Airbuses on Lyon and Marseilles. We are not anticipating much disruption.”
The dispute centres on changes to working practices and to the way Europe’s airspace is managed.
Gary Noakes
