Ryanair has confirmed that a small number of Irish flights have been cancelled in the coming days due to French air control strikes, although currently flights from Cork Airport remain unaffected.

Yesterday, Ryanair issued renewed calls for the European Commission to intervene and stop French air traffic controllers “from holding European travellers and tourists to ransom” with “repeated and unnecessary strike action”, the latest of which is taking place from February 6 to 8.

The airline said a small number of its flights have been cancelled due to the strikes, and apologised to customers for the “unavoidable cancellations and any delays”.

Ryanair director of operations Neal McMahon said the European Commission “must step in and to preserve the free movement of people by protecting overflights from these needless strikes”. A spokesperson for Cork Airport said currently all flights in and out of the airport are operating as scheduled.

However, it said “Cork Airport has no bearing on operational matters in this instance” and all operational decisions stemming from strikes are within the remits of each airline.

“For passengers seeking further information, we recommend that they contact their airline as always,” they said.

Passengers travelling to or from or over France during this period are advised to check flight status updates before travelling.