Further strike action by French air traffic controllers has forced Aer Lingus and Ryanair to cancel a number of flights this week.
The Irish Times reports that while Aer Lingus only had to cancel six flights between Dublin and France, Ryanair had to cancel 56 flights to, from and over France. Ryanair's route cancellations included flights from Dublin to Madrid, EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg and Carcassonne.
According to Ryanair, this will be the 51st French strike since 2009 and the eleventh in the past twelve weeks, as a result the company is calling on the European Commission to take action to alleviate the impact the strikes have on consumers.
It has also set up an online petition called Keep Europe's Skies Open which will be presented to the commission in Brussels if it obtains one million signatures.
Regarding the latest strike, Ryanair's Kenny Jacobs said “These strikes by French ATC workers are becoming a weekly event by now, causing chaos for families wanting to take their summer breaks but also designed to upset the plans of football fans coming from far and wide to France to enjoy the Euros. It is simply unacceptable that this situation is allowed to persist, and we regret that once again we have been forced to cancel a number of flights due to the selfish actions of these workers.”
Both Ryanair and Aer Lingus have advised customers that are travelling on Thursday to check the status of their flight on its websites before travelling to the airport.
