French air traffic strike causes further Irish flight disruption

Flights between Ireland and Europe continue to be disrupted on Thursday as hundreds of planes across the continent remain grounded due to an air traffic controllers' strike.

Ryanair has been one of the worst affected airlines, with over 250 cancellations caused by the ongoing dispute between France's largest air traffic controllers' union and the French government.

Of these, 17 affect Irish routes, with Thursday evening's Cork to Faro flight the only cancellation outside of Dublin.

Once again, Aer Lingus has escaped with minimal disruption, with its return flight between Dublin and Paris Charles de Gaulle the only affected service on Thursday.

The row has erupted over plans to raise the retirement age for air traffic controllers from 57 to 59, and has led to the cancellation of around 40 per cent of flights to and from France between today and yesterday.

A Ryanair statement issued yesterday read: “We sincerely apologise to all customers affected by this unwarranted strike action and we call on the EU and French authorities to take measures to prevent any further disruption

“It’s grossly unfair that thousands of European travellers will once again have their travel plans disrupted by the selfish actions of a tiny number of French ATC workers.”

Flights which pass through French airspace are also affected.

The state-employed air traffic controllers have threatened further stoppages on April 16th-18th and April 29th-May 2nd, coinciding with spring school holidays in France.