strike affects connections to Portugal

The low-cost airline “announced the cancellation of more than 300 flights, due to the strike by French air controllers”, which takes place this Thursday. “This situation is due to the fact that France did not protect” flights passing through its airspace “during its national air strikes,” the group said in a statement

According to Ryanair, despite the strike being by French air traffic controllers, “the majority of affected passengers do not fly to/from France, but fly over French airspace en route to their destination (e.g. UK, Greece, Spain, Italy) “, ensuring that “French legislation unfairly protects domestic flights”.

Ryanair called on the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, “to take urgent measures to protect” flights affected by the strike, “which it has not done in the last five years”.

“French air traffic controllers are free to strike, it is their right, but French flights should be canceled and not flights leaving Ireland and going to Italy, or flights from Germany to Spain or from Scandinavia to Portugal “, said the executive chairman of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, quoted in the same note.

“The European Commission, under the direction of Ursula von der Leyen, has not taken, for five years, any measure to protect overflights and the single market in air transport”, he criticized, calling for measures to resolve the issue, “which will eliminate more 90% of these flight cancellations”.

The company asks for protection of flights passing through French airspace during strikes and that air controllers from other European countries can manage these connections. It also calls for mandatory arbitration before strikes in France.