Aviation authorities had to ask airlines to scrap hundreds of flights not just to-and-from France but also overflying the country as summer holidays kick off.
The European Airlines for Europe (A4E) association said 1,500 flights would be cancelled on Thursday and Friday in Europe, affecting 300,000 passengers.
“French air traffic control already delivers some of Europe’s worst delay figures and now the actions of a minority of French air traffic control workers will needlessly disrupt the holiday plans of thousands of people in France and across Europe,” said A4E chief Ourania Georgoutsakou.
READ ALSO: Will travel in Europe be hit by more French air traffic control strikes this summer?
The association said the strikes also caused “almost 500,000 minutes” in delays in Europe on Thursday on nearly 33,000 commercial flights.
Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, said it had cancelled more than 400 flights.
“These strikes are unacceptable,” said Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, urging the EU Commission to protect such overflights by law in case of strikes.
“Of these 400 flight cancellations, 350 would not be cancelled if the EU protected overflights over France.”
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Paris airports worst hit
Paris airports risked being even more severely affected than on the first day of the strike on Thursday, which was called by two minority unions calling for better working conditions and staffing.
The timing of the strike is particularly acute with Friday the final day of school in France before the summer holidays, with many families planning an early getaway.
France’s DGAC aviation authority said 933 flights departing from or arriving at French airports were cancelled on Thursday, some 10 percent of the total number of flights initially scheduled. The proportion of cancellations rose to 25 percent at the main airports in Paris.
But on Friday the situation risks being even more severe with the DGAC asking companies to cancel 40 percent of flights to deal with the strike.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou described the strike as “shocking”.
“Choosing the day when everyone goes on holiday to go on strike at air traffic control is taking the French hostage,” he told BFMTV.
The effects of the strike are not limited to France and the stoppage has triggered hundreds of cancellations of flights that fly over the country.
LISTEN: From strikes to extreme heat – What to expect in France this summer
