Ryanair to ground up to 50 flights a day for six weeks

Ryanair is cancelling up to 50 flights a day - including several to and from France - for the next six weeks to clear 'a backlog of crew leave'.

Flights were first cancelled on Friday without warning, with another 80 - including arrivals and departures at Dinard, Paris Beauvais and Nice - affected on Saturday.

The budget airline 'apologised sincerely to the small number of customers affected' and said in a statement that the cancellations were part of a move to 'realign staff holidays' and 'improve punctuality', which 'had dropped below its annual target of 90% in the first two weeks of the month'.

It sent email notification to the first tranche of affected passengers on Friday, giving them the choice of a refund or an alternative flight.

The move is set to affect more than 285,000 passengers, who will be offered alternative flights or refunds.

Passengers on affected flights will receive a text message or email, Ryanair said. At least one person has said on social media that their flight next week has been cancelled, but is still showing as scheduled on the airline's website.

Ryanair has advised customers that flights will operate as scheduled unless passengers receive a cancellation email.

Flights between Dinard airport and Stansted, Dublin and Paris Beauvais, and Stansted and Nice are among the 80 flights affected on Saturday, September 16. For the full list of Ryanair cancellations for Saturday, click here.

Flights to and from other airports in France will be affected throughout the period of the cancellations.

Passengers on affected flights are entitled to compensation. The UK's Citizen's Advice Bureau has published a breakdown of passenger rights here.