Three French airports told to cancel half of flights due to strike

Flights operating in and out of Paris Beauvais, Brest, and Carcassone airports on Thursday (June 29) are facing significant disruption due to an air traffic controller strike.

France’s civil aviation authority, the Direction Générale de l’Aviation Civile (DGAC), asked airlines to cancel half their scheduled flights after an air traffic controller union, the L'Union Syndicale de l'Aviation Civile-CGT (Usac-CGT), announced it was going on strike.

The DGAC said on Twitter the strike will last from Wednesday (June 28) evening to 6:00 Friday (June 30) morning.

It has warned flights are likely to be delayed or cancelled. It asked passengers to contact their airlines and delay their travel plans if possible.

Just before lunchtime, the DGAC asked airlines to cancel all remaining flights scheduled for Thursday from the three affected airports .

The Usac-CGT said it is protesting over working conditions for its members. It accused the DGAC of wanting to “overturn how people work in civil aviation while downgrading the service provided”.

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The Usac-CGT is also protesting a bill voted on by the French Senate on June 15 aiming to better organise aviation traffic during strikes.

It said the bill will “question the right to strike” and that “the enactment of this law would be an extraordinary step back in constitutional rights”.

At the moment, although air traffic control unions must give five days' notice that they are going on strike, individual staff members do not have to say whether they are going on strike, unlike other employees in the sector. France’s parliament, the Assemblée nationale, will now examine the bill.

Paris Beauvais airport is one of the hubs of low-cost airline Ryanair.

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