More than 900 Ryanair flights cancelled in June amid French strike action

By Holly Williams, PA Business Editor

About 160,000 passengers were impacted after Ryanair cancelled more than 900 flights last month amid disruption from air traffic control strikes across France, the low cost carrier has said.

French air traffic controllers staged a series of strikes last month, with the latest – a 34-hour walkout ending on June 30th – marking their 60th day of strike action this year.

The Dublin-based airline was among the most heavily impacted by the industrial action, with flights cancelled across a number of airports and other routes also disrupted by aircraft or crew in the wrong locations.

It said it operated more than 96,250 flights last month but that “regrettably” more than 900 flights were cancelled, “mainly due to ATC (air traffic control) strikes”.

The last French strikes in June were in response to president Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the country’s pension age from 62 to 64 and come as part of industrial action across a raft of sectors that has crippled the country since the start of the year.

The former boss of British Airways, Willie Walsh, recently called for a change in the rules to allow flights over France during air traffic control strikes.

He said their action was threatening to wreak havoc for British holidaymakers and impact travel to other European countries.

The law in France dictates that domestic flights must be able to continue during industrial action, but international flights are banned from flying over the country while air traffic controllers are on strike.

In its latest update, Ryanair said overall it carried 17.4 million passengers in June, up 9 per cent year-on-year.

Rival low-cost airline Wizz Air said, in a separate traffic update also out on Tuesday, that it carried 22.5 per cent more passengers year-on-year last month, at 5.3 million.

Wizz Air expanded its network in Albania with 10 new routes in June.