Flights from Ireland to France hit by protests

NATIONWIDE STRIKES and protest action by workers in France have forced the cancellation of a large number of flights into and out of the country today.

At least eight flights to and from Ireland have been affected.

Aer Lingus said it cancelled the return flights between Dublin and Paris Charles De Gaulle at 11am because of the strike.

The company’s 7am and 6pm flights from Dublin are still scheduled to depart and all other services to France are operational as normal.

Passengers affected have been notified by text message and e-mail and can take a refund or arrange an alternative journey, a spokeswoman for Aer Lingus said.

Ryanair has cancelled six flights on the Dublin to Nice and Rodez routes and Knock and Reus (Barcelona) route.

The company has had to cancel 200 flights around Europe due to the strike.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said the striking air traffic controllers didn’t care about consumers and once again called on the European Commission to end the “chaos”.

This year to date the airline said it has been forced to cancel 1,850 flights and delay more than 12,000 other flights – disrupting more than 2.5 million passengers – as a direct result of Belgian, French and Spanish air traffic control strikes and work to rules.

“If these people don’t want to work, then replace them with military and other controllers who do wish to work,” he said.

Ryanair advised passengers they can transfer to the next available flight free of charge or apply for a refund at the airport ticket desk, online or by calling its reservation centre.

The week-long protests have threatened France with fuel shortages and, as a result, airlines were told to cut back their flights into the country.

Short-haul flights were also warned to carry enough fuel for their return journeys.

France’s DGAC civil aviation authority ordered airlines to cancel half of their flights tomorrow out of Paris’s Orly airport, and almost one-third at other airports nationwide, including Paris’s largest airport, Charles de Gaulle.