The Irish company was forced to cancel 170 flights, affecting more than 30,000 passengers, due to an air traffic controllers’ strike today and on Friday.
These cancellations coincide with the start of the European summer holidays, one of the busiest travel periods of the year, Ryanair noted in a statement.
Besides the cancellation of flights to and from France, the strike impacts aircraft flying over French territory, due to France’s ongoing failure to protect overflights during air traffic controllers’ strikes, the company added.
In the statement, Ryanair indicates that it has long advocated for effective air traffic control reform.
Company CEO Michael O’Leary argued that “European families are being victimized by the French air traffic controllers’ strike” and deemed it “unacceptable” that overflights in French airspace are canceled or delayed as a result of yet another French air traffic controllers’ strike.
“Ryanair urges Ursula von der Leyen [President of the European Commission] to take urgent action to reform EU air traffic control services: first, by ensuring that air traffic control services are staffed with the necessary personnel for the first wave of daily departures and, second, by protecting overflights during national controllers’ strikes,” he stated.
O’Leary further considered that these two reforms “would eliminate 90% of all delays and cancellations” and “would protect EU passengers from these repetitive and avoidable service disruptions.”
