Sixteen flights connecting Dublin Airport with Paris, Biarritz, Nice, and Murcia in Spain have been cancelled due to a nationwide air traffic controller strike in France today and tomorrow.
Daa spokesperson Graeme McQueen confirmed that the cancellations consist of eight departures and eight arrivals.
“Currently, no cancellations have been reported for flights in and out of Cork Airport today,” he stated.
“Passengers planning to fly to or over mainland Europe today are encouraged to check directly with their airline for the latest updates regarding their flight status.”
Ryanair announced it had to cancel 170 flights, impacting 30,000 passengers due to the strike.
This disruption coincides with the onset of Europe’s summer holidays, a peak travel season.
The French civil aviation agency DGAC requested several airlines to reduce flights at Paris airports by 40% on July 4 due to the anticipated strike.
“In addition to the flights to/from France being cancelled, this strike will also impact all French overflights,” Ryanair stated in a release today.
Passengers overflying French airspace from the UK to Greece and from Spain to Ireland will also feel the effects, according to the airline.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take immediate action to reform European Union air traffic controller services.
“Once again, European families are being held hostage by French Air Traffic Controllers going on strike. It is unacceptable that flights over French airspace heading to their destinations are being cancelled or delayed due to yet another French ATC strike,” Mr. O’Leary commented.
“This situation is illogical and excessively unfair to EU passengers and families traveling for vacations,” he added.
He expressed a desire for Ms. von der Leyen to prioritize urgent reforms in EU ATC services by ensuring that ATC staff levels are sufficiently maintained during peak departure times and by safeguarding overflights during national ATC strikes.
“These two significant reforms could eliminate 90% of ATC delays and cancellations, protecting EU passengers from these ongoing and avoidable disruptions caused by yet another French ATC strike,” he further stated.
Ryanair mentioned that it had been impacted by the recent conflict in the Middle East, having cancelled over 800 flights last month.
It is one of the airlines to have terminated and rerouted flights due to the hostilities between Israel and Iran, along with continued attacks in Gaza.
Last week, operations were suspended at Dubai Airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as passengers were warned to anticipate additional delays and cancellations.
Ryanair reported that it still managed to operate over 109,000 flights in June, showing that less than 1% were affected by disruptions.
The airline transported a total of 19.9 million passengers in June, reflecting a 3% year-on-year increase compared to the same month last year.
