Ryanair is pulling no punches in its battle with the European Union and the apparent lack of control over air traffic control in the region. On social media the airline is warning “ANOTHER French Air Traffic Control strike is approaching?? We again ask @ursulavonderleyen to enforce the protection of overflights during French strikes - exactly what has been done in Spain, Italy and Greece!”
Ryanair has announced the cancellation of up to 600 flights scheduled between October 7 and October 10, due to a planned strike by French air traffic controllers. This industrial action, organized by the SNCTA union, is expected to disrupt travel for over 100,000 passengers, particularly affecting routes from the United Kingdom to destinations such as Spain, Italy, and Greece.
The SNCTA, representing about 60% of French air traffic controllers, said the decision followed a breakdown in dialogue with the French Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC). The union criticized “punitive practices” and “degrading management methods,” stressing that the strike was a last resort after years of stalled negotiations.
This summer, Ryanair 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, a wave of which caused serious disruption at Palma airport and many others across Spain in July. Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, wrote an open letter to Commission President von der Leyen calling on her to take immediate action to protect overflights during French ATC strikes or quit. O’Leary criticised the Commission’s false claims that ATC is a “national competence” when protecting the single market for air travel is a Commission competence.
The strike is set to commence on the morning of October 7 and conclude on the night of October 9. While flights to and from France will be directly impacted, overflights - those passing through French airspace without landing - will also face significant disruptions. Approximately one-third of European flights typically traverse French airspace, making this strike particularly disruptive for travellers across the continent.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary told Sky News the industrial action would cost the airline around £20m, a sum the company could afford to swallow. But he admitted his customers would be worse off, and urged them to complain. The airline CEO accepted the rights of French workers to strike but called for overflights to be protected, claiming their disruption would be an abuse of the free single market.
“That’s about 100,000 passengers who will have their flights cancelled needlessly next Wednesday and Thursday,” O’Leary said.
“On any given day at the moment, we operate about 3,500 flights and about 900 of those flights cross over French airspace and about two thirds of those, around 600 flights, are cancelled every day there’s an air traffic control strike. The UK is the country whose flights get cancelled most because of the geographic proximity to France.” Passengers who are due to fly next week have been told to keep an eye on the status of their flight on the airline’s website or app.
The Ryanair boss said: "We bloody well demand that our overflights are protected. If British citizens today going to Italy, or we have Spanish visitors wanting to come to London, they should not have their flights disrupted or cancelled." Other airlines such as easyJet and British Airways could also face disruptions, with easyJet saying it is still waiting for information from the authorities to understand the impact of the strikes.
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