FRENCH AIR STRIKE BRINGS CHAOS FOR TRAVELLERS
THOUSANDS of travellers had their flight plans ruined yesterday by a French air traffic controllers’ strike.
Hundreds were stuck at London’s Stansted Airport, with many claiming they did not know they could not fly until they got to check- in.
The chaos will continue today and further action is planned from next Thursday to Saturday and at the end of April.
Ryanair cancelled 250 European flights, including 70 to and from UK and Irish airports.
Carrier easy Jet cancelled 198, including 52 UK flights, and will cancel at least another 48 UK flights today.
A total of 44 Flybe and 52 British Airways flights will have been cancelled by the end of the strike, which is over working conditions.
With 8,000 flights a day, France has some of the busiest skies in Europe. Its civil aviation authority asked airlines to halve the number of scheduled flights today.
At Stansted a British teacher flying to Biarritz said the strikers had people “over a barrel”. He said: “I’m Left wing, I’m pro- Europe and believe in people’s right to strike. But the French air traffic control workers are just the same as Tube drivers. They get paid twice as much as I do, but keep wanting more.
“They have everyone bent over a barrel. They seem to be on strike every year. It’s so frustrating.”
A French woman flying with her five- month- old baby said the first she knew about the cancellation was when she got to the airport.
She said: “I checked in online yesterday. They should have told us then. I’m stuck in the queue with my baby who needs a feed. I might be here for hours.”
Ryanair slammed the “selfish actions” of the strikers. A spokesman said: “It’s grossly unfair that thou- sands of European travellers will once again have their travel plans disrupted by the selfish actions of a tiny number of French air traffic control workers.”
An easy Jet spokesman said: “Like all airlines flying to and from France we expect significant impact to our flights during this period. Easy Jet can assure its passengers it is doing everything possible to limit the inconvenience.”
A BA spokesman said: “We are using larger aircraft as well as re- routing some flights to try to help as many customers as possible get to where they need to be.
“Unfortunately there will be some knock- on delays.”
But there was some good news for travellers. The launch of new passport checks at Britain’s borders went fairly smoothly.
Ministers postponed the crackdown, which is aimed at finding out who is in the country illegally, and allowed it to be phased in starting with just 25 per cent of passports.
But Eurotunnel which has spent £ 2.5million preparing for the checks and hired 50 extra staff went to full implementation yesterday, while P& O Ferries said: “Everything is running smoothly and there are no delays.”