Ryanair has called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to intervene over repeated French air traffic control strikes.
The budget airline said there have been 58 days of protests so far this year which is 11 times more than in 2022.
It comes as the French controllers are on strike today and tomorrow.
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Ryanair said the repeated strikes have unfairly forced airlines to disproportionately cancel thousands of EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK, and Ireland.
The airline said they’ve had to cancel more than 4,000 flights in 2023 - these include “overflights” which don’t take off or land in France but were axed because they fly through their airspace.
Last week, Ryanair launched a petition called “Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open” and more than 1.1 million passengers have signed it.
They said they want to send an “urgent message to Ursula von der Leyen that EU citizens demand action to protect overflights during French ATC strikes.”
Ryanair said they want von der Leyen to respect the strike rights of ATC unions, but to also protect 100% of overflights (like Greece, Italy, and Spain) during national ATC strikes.
They also want that when ATC strikes require cancellations, then allocate these to domestic/short-haul flights to/from the affected State and enforce binding arbitration for ATC disputes before strike action
They also want a 21-day notice of strike action and 72 hours of notice of employee participation in ATC to minimise passenger disruption.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “Last week, Ryanair delivered our ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to EU Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen’s office, having collected more than 1.1 million signatures from fed-up passengers demanding that the EU Commission protect overflights and EU citizens’ freedom of movement during repeated ATC strikes.
“It is utterly unacceptable that Ursula von der Leyen is ignoring these more than 1.1 million passengers, who are sick and tired of having their overflights cancelled at short notice due to repeated ATC strikes.
“As a result, hundreds more overflights are being disproportionately cancelled by yet another French ATC strike.
“It is completely impermissible that ATC strikes can result in the cancellation of thousands of EU passengers’ flights, while France and other EU Member States use Minimum Service Laws to protect their domestic flights.
“If ATC unions insist on striking, which is their right, then they should cancel flights to/from the affected State and protect overflights, not cancel EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the UK.
“The EU Commission must now take urgent action and insist that all States protect overflights during ATC strikes as is already done in Greece, Italy, and Spain.”
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