Flight cancellations are expected across Europe today, due to the latest strike action by French air traffic control (ATC) workers.
Ryanair has again called on EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take “urgent action” to protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement, as the latest French air traffic controller (ATC) strikes take place today.
The strike action started at 6pm on Sunday evening and are due to run until 6am tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
So far in 2023, there have been 65 days of ATC strikes (over 13 times more than in 2022) forcing airlines to cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and the UK, while France in particular uses Minimum Service Laws to protect French flights.
A Ryanair spokesperson said:
“It is completely unacceptable that there have been 65 days of ATC strikes this year which have caused the cancellation of thousands of flights at short notice, unfairly disrupting EU passengers’ travel plans. Despite repeated calls on Ursula von der Leyen to protect passengers and overflights during these ATC strikes, she has failed to take any action to do so.
“EU passengers are sick and tired of suffering unnecessary overflight cancellations during ATC strikes, as evidenced by the 2 million EU passenger signatures on our Protect Passengers – Keep EU Skies Open petition calling on Ursula von der Leyen to protect overflights and keep EU skies open during ATC strikes. There is no excuse for EU passengers not flying to/from the affected member state to bear the burden of ATC strikes that are completely unrelated to them and Ursula von der Leyen must immediately put a stop to this or answer to the 2 million passengers who she has failed to protect by offering her resignation.”
