Ryanair has had to cancel 400 flights due to a new strike by French air traffic controllers, as part of opposition to pension reform in France, according to the management of the low-cost Irish carrier.
Most of the flights had to come from or were destined for Ireland, Germany, Italy and Spain, the airline said on Tuesday on Twitter.
The majority of the cancelled flights were “flights over France and not flights to France,” said Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, for whom there was no reason why they had to be cancelled.
“We respect the right of French air traffic control to strike but it should be French domestic flights or local flights to France that get cancelled,” he said.
“It’s absolutely indefensible that flights going from Ireland to Italy, from Poland to Portugal, or from Spain to Germany are being cancelled simply because the French want to prioritise their domestic flights and cancel all the overflights,” he added.
O'Leary also regretted the “inaction” of the European Commission.
He said the airline had submitted a petition, signed by more than 1.1 million of its customers, calling on the Commission to “protect overflights” and “the freedom of movement of European citizens” during the repeated strikes by the air traffic controllers.
