French air traffic control strike set to disrupt flights to and from Ireland this weekend All those travelling are being advised to check their flight schedule prior to flying. Thousands of passengers across the EU are set to be affected by an air traffic control strike which will take place all through the weekend. Advertisement According to Dublin Airport, the strike is scheduled to start from 4.30am on the morning of Saturday 16 June - 4.30am on Monday 18 June. Rumours of such strikes were rife throughout the week, with Ryanair calling for urgent action by the EU Commission and European Governments to prevent action such as this and to arrest the deterioration in Europe's Air Traffic Control (ATC) services during the summer months. All flights which fly to and over France will be affected by this weekend's strike. ATC strikes in France have been a common occurrence of late, with airlines and flights from a number of countries, including Ireland, affected as a result. Dublin Airport took to Twitter to confirm the news, and urge passengers travelling this weekend to check their flight information on their website. An ATC strike in southern France is scheduled to start from 04.30 Saturday June 16 until 04.30 on Monday June 18. Passengers are advised to check latest flight information with their airline before coming to @DublinAirport — Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) June 15, 2018 Advertisement Earlier this week, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary called these disruptions "unacceptable", as he urged the UK and German Governments, as well as the EU Commission, the "act now." The budget airline, who has said that is expected hundreds of flights to be delayed as a result, issued a press release stating that customers scheduled to fly this weekend should expect delays and that all passengers will be contacted prior to travelling. "French and Spanish ATC capacity issues have caused delays to 10 (2%) of our 440 first wave of flight departures this morning. We sincerely regret these delays which are unjustified and are doing our utmost to limit their impact on flights throughout the rest of today. "Customers on impacted flights have been notified by SMS text and email. "Due to yet another French ATC strike this weekend, Ryanair regrets to inform customers that it has been forced to cancel a number of flights. Advertisement "All affected customers will be contacted by email and text message and advised of their options." Last year, Ryanair was forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights in May alone, almost all due to ATC staff shortages and strikes. At time of writing, one Ryanair flight has been cancelled for the weekend – the Dublin to Nice service on Saturday. Aer Lingus has also issued a statement, advising customers on what to do should their flight be disrupted. "Please be advised of flight disruptions this weekend due to French Air Traffic Controller Strike. Advertisement "Guests planning to travel this weekend are advised to check the status of their flight on aerlingus.com before departing for the airport. "If your flight has been cancelled, affected guests can opt to Be accommodated on the next available flight, Rebook their flight free of charge, or Cancel and apply for a refund. "More information can be found below or by contacting our call centre on 00-353-1-8868989. Advertisement "Guests' rights and airlines' obligations under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, can be found here." As of Friday at 6pm, an Aer Lingus spokesperson confirmed to JOE that the airline has cancelled their services to Nice, Lyon and Marseilles and on Sunday to Marseilles - four flights in total. The spokesperson continued to say that, at time of writing, just one of two flights to Lyon has been cancelled. "Currently the 6.50am flight to Lyon (EI550) is scheduled. However, this is subject to change due to the Air Traffic Control Strike, which is why we are stating that guests are advised to check their flights prior to departing for the airport."<doc-sep>RYANAIR's Michael O’Leary has called for “urgent” action against French air traffic control (ATC) strikes that could cause a “meltdown” this summer. The budget airline's CEO says thousands of flights and millions of passengers will be disrupted, particularly in the peak months of July and August, unless the ATC staffing crisis is addressed. 2 Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has said that air traffic control strikes could lead to a 'meltdown' this summer Credit: PA:Press Association He said: "Yet again this weekend, French ATC will strike on Saturday and Sunday leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled, disrupting the holiday plans of thousands of passengers. "Many of these flights don’t even touch France, yet they will be disruptive because French ATC requires airlines to cancel overflights while they protect French domestic routes. "Europe’s airlines are also suffering thousands of ATC delays/cancellations because of staff shortages especially in German and UK ATC providers. "Europe’s ATC providers are approaching the point of meltdown with hundreds of flights being cancelled daily, simply because they don’t have enough staff to deal with them." 2 Ryanair had to cancel 1,000 flights this May, as opposed to just 43 that it cancelled in May 2017 Credit: AFP More than 117,000 flights were delayed in May and June, with 61 per cent due to the French strikes, according to the airline. Ryanair had to cancel 1,000 flights, as opposed to just 43 that it cancelled in May 2017. The EU target delay for 2018 is an average of 0.5 minutes per flight, but the current forecast for 2018 is now heading towards 1.5 minutes per flight. French air traffic control has been striking over pay freezes and changes to sick pay. Ryanair flight attendant amuses travellers by dancing to Britney Spear's hit song Toxic MOST READ IN TRAVEL SEA YOU THERE Seaside B&B beats posh Claridge’s in top hotels list and reveals its secret FERRIED AWAY Brits travelling to France must self-isolate on arrival due to Indian variant SEAS THE DAY Cheap seaside hotel rooms in the UK this summer from £29 per stay ISLE BE BACK Canary, Balearic & Greek islands 'could be on green list if country is amber' LIFE'S A BEACH Greece reveals new beach rules as it prepares for the return of Brits SAFE TRAVELS Is it safe to go on holiday abroad? The 4 factors to consider before booking The airline is calling on the UK and German Governments, and the EU Commission, to take action to ensure that ATC providers are fully staffed and that overflights are not affected when national strikes take place in France. Sun Online Travel previously revealed that Ryanair are to open a new base at Southend with more flights to the EU.<doc-sep>As airlines prepare for another round of strikes by French air-traffic controllers, two of Europe’s leading airline bosses have demanded action to reduce the damage caused by air traffic control (ATC) problems. Air traffic controllers at the Marseille Area Control Centre (ACC) will strike again this weekend in a dispute over staffing and rostering. Eurocontrol in Brussels said: “This local strike will induce significantly decrease to the ATC capacity of Marseille ACC area. Flights crossing this area will suffer delays.” The centre covers the southeast quarter of France and a large tranche of Mediterranean airspace. Previous strikes at the centre have resulted in hundreds of cancellations. Journeys to many Mediterranean destinations may take longer as pilots are routed around the affected airspace. Recommended Ryanair to launch new base at Southend Airport Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ parent company, IAG, described strikes by controllers as “the greatest challenge to the industry”. He was speaking at the conference of the UK’s Guild of Travel Management Companies (GTMC) in Ireland. Mr Walsh said “only about 20 people” at the Marseille centre were stopping work, but said: “The strikes in the Marseilles area disrupt most of the Mediterranean.” Italian and Greek air traffic controllers have also been taking industrial action. Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, said: “Yet again this weekend, French ATC will strike on Saturday and Sunday leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled, disrupting the holiday plans of thousands of passengers. “Many of these flights don’t even touch France, yet they will be disruptive because French ATC requires airlines to cancel overflights while they protect French domestic routes.” Ryanair claims that 71,000 flights in May were delayed by air traffic control strikes and staff shortages. That equates to 2,300 per day. The number delayed by more than 15 minutes has increased four-fold on May 2017, the airline says. Eurocontrol says that the number of flights handled in May 2018 was 2.3 per cent higher than a year earlier. Mr O’Leary also claimed that thousands of flights are being delayed or cancelled because of staff shortage at air traffic centres in the UK and Germany. “The situation is particularly acute at weekends where British and German ATC providers are hiding behind adverse weather and euphemisms such as ‘capacity restrictions’ when the truth is they are not rostering enough ATC staff.” Mr O’Leary is demanding “urgent action” by the European Commission and the UK and German governments. Without it, he warned: “Thousands more flights and millions of passengers will be disrupted, particularly in the peak months of July and August.” But a spokesperson for NATS, the UK’s air navigation service, said it is maintaining extremely good punctuality despite a big growth in air traffic: “The average NATS-attributable delay per flight in the last calendar year was less than seven seconds.” “The very high increase in demand, especially in airspace over Essex around Ryanair’s Stansted base which has been up to 18 per cent higher than last year, means there are occasions when total demand exceeds the airspace capacity and so we regulate the amount of traffic using it, to maintain a safe operation. “We are embarking on a major programme to modernise airspace in South-east England in order to accommodate forecast growth in air traffic. Change takes time, and requires public consultation, but we are committed to delivering this over the next five years, as Ryanair well know.” Recommended Ryanair wins High Court battle over flight delay compensation Cancellations and long delays caused by strikes cost airlines millions of pounds. While compensation is not payable if strikes disrupt operations, passengers whose flights are cancelled or severely delayed are entitled to a duty of care: meals and, if necessary, accommodation at the airline’s expense until they can reach their destination. Rail passengers travelling to, from and in France on Sunday and Monday face problems due to the next 48-hour strike by French rail workers. They are protesting against plans for modernisation at the state rail enterprise, SNCF, and the opening-up of the French railway network to competition. Four out of five TGV high-speed trains are predicted to run by the national operator, SNCF, but on conventional inter-city routes and some suburban lines around half the services have been cancelled. For the first time since the series of strikes began, Eurostar says no trains will be cancelled: “We will be running a full service on Sunday and Monday on all routes. We look forward to welcoming you onboard.” Further rail strikes in France are expected on 22, 23, 27 and 28 June, and could be extended into the peak holiday months of July and August.<doc-sep>
Travellers could face a summer of holiday chaos over threatened strikes by air traffic controllers (ATC) on the Continent, Ryanair warned yesterday. Europe’s largest airline called for urgent action by the European Commission and EU Governments to stop when it called the “alarming deterioration” in ATC services. Michael O’Leary’s company warned of an impending “full meltdown” over the summer resulting in long delays or even cancelled flights. Ryanair said that 117,000 flights were delayed in May with 61% (over 71,000 flights) due to ATC staff shortages and strikes. In May, Ryanair cancelled just over 1,000 flights, almost all due to ATC staff shortages and strikes, the company said. It added that this was 24 times the 43 flights cancelled in May 2017. In the same month EasyJet cancelled 974 flights compared to just 117 in May 2017. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said: “Yet again this weekend, French ATC will strike on Saturday and Sunday leading to hundreds of flights being cancelled, disrupting the holiday plans of thousands of passengers. “Many of these flights don’t even touch France, yet they will be disruptive because French ATC requires airlines to cancel overflights while they protect French domestic routes. “Europe’s airlines are also suffering thousands of ATC delays/cancellations because of staff shortages especially in German and UK ATC providers. “These disruptions are unacceptable, and we call on the UK and German Governments, and the EU Commission to take urgent and decisive action to ensure that ATC providers are fully staffed and that overflights are not affected when national strikes take place, as they repeatedly do in France.” The Ryanair boss said the situation is getting to the state where many flights during the busy holiday season could be cancelled. He added: “Europe’s ATC providers are approaching the point of meltdown with hundreds of flights being cancelled daily simply because they don’t have enough staff to deal with them. “The situation is particularly acute at weekends where British and German ATC providers are hiding behind adverse weather and euphemisms such as “capacity restrictions” when the truth is they are not rostering enough ATC staff to cater for the number of flights that are scheduled to operate. Urgent action must now be taken by the UK and German Governments, and the EU Commission, otherwise thousands more flights and millions of passengers will be disrupted, particularly in the peak months of July and August, unless this ATC staffing crisis is addressed.”