PARIS, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Airlines canceled half of the flights scheduled for Friday in Paris and many others that would have flown over France, as the strike by air traffic controllers imposed a new round of disruptions to air travel. in Europe.
“It is inexplicable that thousands of European citizens/visitors see their travel plans unfairly interrupted by another French ATC (air traffic control) strike,” Ryanair said in a statement. The travel plans of 80,000 passengers have been affected by the cancellation of 420 flights, mainly to France, the airline added.
Strikes and staff shortages in recent months have forced airlines to cancel thousands of flights, dashing hopes of a lively first summer after widespread COVID-19 lockdowns. And the disturbances will continue into the fall.
Air France said on Wednesday that, due to the impending strike, it would only operate 45% of its short- and medium-haul flights and 90% of its long-haul flights.
“Everything is very calm, since the passengers had been warned in advance and did not go to the airports,” a spokesman for the ADP Group, operator of Parisian airports, told Reuters.
The spokesman added that airlines had tended to suspend short and medium services rather than long ones.
The General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) asked airlines to halve their flight schedules on Fridays.
The SNCTA air traffic control union cited inflation and its demand for more staff as reasons for the walkout in a statement.
(Reporting by Benoit van Overstraeten and Padraic Halpin; edited in Spanish by Benjamรญn Mejรญas Valencia)
