Ryanair calls for European Union intervention against the strike of air traffic controllers in France

Ryanair asked the European Commission to “take urgent measures to protect the overflights and freedom of movement of European Union citizens during these flights.” French air traffic controllers’ strike scheduled for Monday, November 20.

Some trade unions protested the French Parliament’s recent adoption of the law A draft law requires air traffic controllers to announce whether they are on strike or not 48 hours in advance. The French Civil Aviation Authority therefore asked airlines on Thursday to cancel between 20% and 25% of their flight schedules in Paris Orly, Toulouse-Blagnac, Bordeaux-Mérignac and Marseille-Provence for Monday.

The authority also warned that the operation of en route air navigation centres, which manage the flight paths of aircraft flying over the country, would be affected, which could force flights to bypass France. Given France’s geographical location, several days of strike by French air traffic controllers since the beginning of the year have ended Airlines were forced to cancel thousands of EU flights from Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland and the United Kingdom. “While France in particular uses minimum service laws to protect French flights,” Ryanair said in a statement.

“This is unfair. France (and all other EU countries) must protect flights during strikes by air traffic controllers, as is happening in Spain, Italy and Greece, and cancel flights to and from the affected country,” the company added. The carrier in terms of the number of passengers.

Ryanair, which regularly targets French air traffic control, had already made a similar appeal to the European Commission earlier this year.

But the National Union of Air Traffic Controllers (Sncta), the majority union in the sector, did not join the strike. In an interview given to radio c On Sunday, the eve of the strike, Transport Minister Clement Beaune announced that the new 48-hour notice law “will be issued in the next few days” and that its full implementation “will take a few weeks.”

It would not be a bad idea to introduce a similar law also in the Italian public transport sector, including local transport, to allow better planning for both companies and users.