Status: 09/16/2022 09:08 a.m
Air traffic controllers in France have gone on strike for 24 hours. This also has an impact on Germany: Air France, for example, is canceling more than half of its short- and medium-haul flights.
Air travelers in and to France have to be prepared for cancellations and delays on Friday. Air traffic controllers want to stop working in the country for 24 hours.
Air France announced today that it would cancel around 55 percent of its short- and medium-haul flights. Germany is also affected. According to a spokesman, about every second flight to and from Germany should be eliminated. On long-haul routes, about every tenth flight with Air France will be cancelled.
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is canceling a total of 420 flights today. The airline said the measure would affect 80,000 passengers.
Sharp criticism from Ryanair
The strike is restricting overflights over France and affecting more than half of Ryanair’s short- and medium-haul flights. “It is time for the EU to step in and protect overflights so European passengers are not repeatedly blackmailed by a tiny French air traffic control union,” Ryanair executive Neal McMahon said in a statement.
More strikes announced
The SNCTA union had called for the strike. After six months of negotiations, concrete answers from the employer side are missing, it said. Points of contention are the securing of junior staff and the demand for payments to compensate for inflation. The union has already published a second strike notice for September 28-30.