Ongoing strike action by French air traffic control staff has forced Ryanair to cancel 75 planned flights, after the airline announced it had a 12% growth in passenger numbers in May.
The industrial action has also resulted in flights in and out of France to be grounded, as well as partial restrictions to aircraft movement over the country, BreakingNews.ie reports.
With France's rail workers also on strike and unions saying that these disruptions may last for a month, it could be a potential disaster for those visiting for the UEFA Euro 2016 Championship, which commences 10 June.
Ryanair's Robin Kiely said: “It's not just Ryanair that will be affected, there'll be thousands of flights possibly cancelled across Europe this weekend. Enough is enough, this will be the 50th time these air traffic controllers have gone on strike. The European Union is doing literally nothing to actually take any action to prevent these strikes going ahead".
Meanwhile, Ryanair has cut baggage fees for 92% of its customers. The reduction will see a 50% reduction in baggage fees for domestic flights under two hours and a 17% saving for flights under three hours. However, any flights over three hours wont see any change says the Irish Independent.
Baggage booking options will be greatly simplified too, being vastly reduced from 108 to six options. This latest change is part of their “Always Getting Better” programme which is currently in its 3rd year. Ryanair's chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs says that this year's initiatives for the programme “will be about digital acceleration and innovation, particularly through our Ryanair Labs digital developments”.
The low-cost airline has released traffic statistics for the month of May which has seen a 12% growth to 10.6 million customers. The rolling annual traffic has also grown by 16% to 108.5 million customers. Regarding this growth, Jacobs said “These record monthly numbers were delivered, at lower fares, despite the ongoing disruptions being caused by ATC strikes in France.”
