The air traffic controllers’ strike is causing significant delays at several French airports, even closures, and has knock-on consequences in Europe, according to data available Monday morning.
The airports of Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées (Hautes-Pyrénées, southwest) and Pau-Pyrénées (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, southwest), as well as that of Saint-Yan (Saône-et-Loire, east) are deprived of services air traffic and therefore do not work, according to the online dashboard of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC). The director of Pau-Pyrénées airport, Jérôme Le Bris, confirmed that the national strike movement, “monitored by the controllers of the control tower”, had led to “all flights being diverted” until 8:00 p.m. Other larger installations are experiencing significant delays in departure or arrival, according to the same source. Departures are on average 95 minutes late at Toulouse-Blagnac, 77 at Lille-Lesquin, 64 at Marseille-Provence, 54 at Lyon-Saint-Exupéry, 46 at Bordeaux-Mérignac, 34 at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and 28 at Paris-Orly.
Several unions intend to protest against the recent adoption by Parliament of a bill aimed at forcing air traffic controllers to individually declare themselves on strike or not 48 hours in advance. The DGAC had therefore asked airlines to give up between 20% and 25% of their flight schedule to Orly, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Marseille on Monday. She also warned that the activity of air navigation en route centers (CRNA), which manage the trajectories of aircraft flying over the territory, would be affected, potentially forcing flights to bypass France. Air France plans to operate “more than 7 out of 10 flights to and from Paris Orly, Toulouse, Marseille, Bordeaux and Nantes” on Monday, according to a spokesperson. Long-haul flights and those to and from Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle are not affected. On Sunday, Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, reiterated its call for the European Commission to take “urgent action to protect overflights and the freedom of movement of EU citizens during the workers’ strike.” French air traffic controllers.
The French Minister for Transport Clément Beaune promised to “fully apply this reform”. “It will better organize the public service, it is supported by the majority union and no one had the courage to do it. The law will be promulgated in the coming days, it will apply in the coming weeks after a review of the decree,” he added in a statement sent to AFP on Monday.
