Spain was one of the countries most affected by the French air traffic controllers’ strike on 3 and 4 July, with 978 delays per day and twice as many cancellations as on normal days, according to a Eurocontrol report. In addition, 94% of the flights affected were overflights and were not directly bound for France, while in other countries, between 65% and 86% were also overflights.
In terms of daily delays, Spain was followed by France (819), the United Kingdom (401), Italy (319), Germany (220), Portugal (200) and Switzerland (118). In total figures for Europe, this industrial action by air traffic controllers in France delayed 3,713 flights and cancelled 1,422 per day on average, affecting more than one million workers.
In terms of economic impact, the cost of the delays was approximately 47 million euros, added to around 73 million euros in cancellations. The total therefore amounts to around 100 million euros.
Ryanair was the airline most affected by the two-day strike, with an average of 718 delayed flights, followed by easyJet (407) and Air France (275).
In addition, Eurcontrol points out that the highest percentage of delayed flights corresponded to Volotea, with 34%, followed by Air France (33%), easyJet (25%), Ryanair (21%) and Vueling (20%).
The airports of Palma, Barcelona and Paris Charles de Gaulle were the hardest hit by the strike, with more than 150 delays each day.
Half of the top 10 most affected airports are Spanish, with Madrid, Malaga and Alicante completing the list, along with other French airports and Lisbon. And Ryanair is not happy. Europe’s largest airline, has issued an open letter to Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, calling on her to quit if she fails to take action to protect the single market for flights over Europe during national French ATC strikes, the latest wave of which caused serious disruption at Palma airport and many others across Spain.
What is more, Ryanair has warned that it is considering cutting more flights from medium and small Spanish airports next winter and in 2026 if operator Aena does not lower its fees, newspaper El Economista reported citing the Irish airline’s CEO Eddie Wilson. Regional airports “need low fees to stimulate growth”, Wilson told El Economista in an interview, “otherwise the formula will not work”, he said, adding that the company would not invest in loss-making operations. The trouble is that Aena has recently announced that fees will be going up next year.