French air traffic controllers' strike disrupts early summer season travel

3/7/2025 16:49

French air traffic controllers began a two-day strike on Thursday demanding better working conditions, disrupting air travel as the summer season gets under way.



France's civil aviation agency DGAC has asked airlines to reduce the number of flights in and out of the country, including at Paris' Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport, one of Europe's busiest, because of the industrial action.



Air France, France's largest airline said it had adapted its flight schedule, without giving details, but that it was maintaining long-haul flights.



Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel 170 flights affecting over 30,000 passengers on Thursday and Friday.



"In addition to flights to/from France being cancelled, this strike will also affect all French overflights," the Irish airline said in a statement.



France's second largest air traffic controllers' union, UNSA-ICNA, said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture.