Ryanair is continuing with its drive to force the European Commission to take action to crackdown on strike action by air traffic controllers which hit airlines and millions of travellers every year, especially during the summer months and they want passengers to get involved and help.
According to the airline, since 2023, there has been more than 99 days of ATC (air traffic control) strikes forcing airlines to cancel thousands of EU overflights, such as those between the UK and Spain. These French ATC strikes have delayed/cancelled the flights of over 1.2m airline passengers.
“It is unacceptable that France uses Min Service Legislation to protect French flights during these repeated ATC strikes, while overflights, none of which are operating to/from France, suffer all these cancellations. This is unfair. The EU must act now to protect overflights and the EU Single Market.
“Ryanair has repeatedly called on the EU Commission and Ursula von der Leyen to take action to protect EU passengers and overflights during repeated French ATC strikes. Ryanair calls on all passengers to sign our petition.
“Do it today and send an urgent message to Ursula von der Leyen that EU citizens demand action to protect overflights during French ATC strikes,” the airline has stated. Last July, the airline issued an open letter to Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, calling on her to quit if she failed 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 at the start of the month.
According to the airline, despite repeated calls from the airline industry, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has refused to take any action to protect and defend the single market for air travel during French ATC strikes. Ryanair called Ursula von der Leyen’s continuing failure indefensible and unacceptable.
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.
O’Leary said: “It is unacceptable that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen continues to stand idly by, while the single market for air travel over Europe is repeatedly shut down by French Air Traffic Controllers. We do not allow our railways, our motorways, or our shipping lanes to be closed by industrial action, so it is unacceptable that the EU Commission President fails to defend the single market for air travel.
“During the Brexit negotiations, Commission President von der Leyen repeatedly stated that “protecting the single market is the most important duty of her Presidency of the European Commission”. If that is so, then she should take immediate action to protect overflights and the single market for air travel during French ATC strikes and stop failing on this issue.
“Ursula von der Leyen must protect overflights during national ATC strikes or resign. If she won’t defend the single market for air travel, then she should quit and let somebody competent defend the single market on behalf of Europe’s airline passengers.”