French air traffic control strike forces 170 Ryanair cancellations, disrupting 30,000 passengers across Europe and prompting calls for EU action to protect overflight routes.
Tens of thousands of passengers across Europe have seen their holiday plans thrown into chaos after a major strike by French air traffic controllers forced widespread flight cancellations and delays. Low-cost airline Ryanair announced that it had cancelled more than 170 flights, affecting over 30,000 travellers on Thursday and Friday, as the two-day walkout brought parts of France’s airspace to a near standstill.
The industrial action, led by members of the UNSA-ICNA air traffic controllers’ union, is the latest in a string of strikes that have plagued European aviation in recent years. The union has cited staffing shortages, deteriorating working conditions, and opposition to a proposed mandatory clock-in system for controllers as core reasons for the walkout.
The impact has been most severe in France but has rippled across the continent, affecting flights between the UK, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Greece, many of which rely on routing through French airspace.
At major airports including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais, up to 40% of flights on Friday were cancelled following requests by France’s civil aviation authority (DGAC) for airlines to reduce their schedules. The southern airport of Nice saw over half of its services grounded, causing severe disruption during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot condemned the timing and nature of the strike, calling it “unacceptable” and damaging to both passengers and France’s reputation as a major transport hub. “This is a key holiday moment for millions of people. Holding them hostage in this manner is deeply irresponsible,” he told French broadcasters on Friday.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary launched a scathing attack on the industrial action, saying it was “abundantly unfair” for EU passengers who have no connection to the dispute within France. “French air traffic controllers are once again holding European families to ransom,” he said, demanding that the European Commission enforce minimum service levels to protect overflights—flights that pass through but do not land in France.
“Flights from Ireland to Spain, Germany to Italy, and UK to Greece are being needlessly delayed or cancelled simply because they fly over France,” O’Leary said. “We are calling on Ursula von der Leyen and the Commission to step in and end this recurring chaos.”
Ryanair also launched a petition earlier this year urging the European Commission to protect overflights during French ATC strikes. The petition, titled “Keep EU Skies Open”, has reportedly garnered over 2 million signatures, highlighting the scale of public frustration over repeated aviation disruptions in Europe.
The strike comes amid a surge in post-pandemic travel, with European airports once again seeing peak-season volumes. Airlines and industry groups have expressed alarm that continued labour unrest could derail recovery efforts.
Airlines for Europe (A4E), which represents major European carriers including Lufthansa, Air France-KLM, and Ryanair, called the latest French walkout “intolerable.” In a statement, the body warned that unless swift action is taken, “Europe’s fragile aviation recovery will continue to suffer from the same cycle of disruption and passenger misery.”
EasyJet, another carrier affected by the strike, said it was “deeply disappointed” and urged authorities and unions to return to the negotiating table. “This strike action, once again, highlights the vulnerability of the entire European air travel system to local disputes,” a spokesperson said.
According to Eurocontrol, the European air traffic management body, France is responsible for around 75% of all ATC-related delays in Europe, largely due to strike actions.
This week’s strike is not the first this year. In April, a separate strike by French controllers saw over 1,000 flights cancelled in a single day. Ryanair said it had to cancel more than 800 flights in June alone—partly due to ATC disruptions and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Despite this, Ryanair insists its operations remain largely intact, noting that it flew over 109,000 flights in June, meaning that fewer than 1% of its services were affected by these latest cancellations. The airline continues to operate at near pre-pandemic capacity, though it has called for better coordination at the EU level to prevent isolated labour disputes from crippling the continent’s interconnected airspace.
As of Friday evening, delays and further cancellations are expected to continue into the weekend. Travellers are being urged to check the status of their flights and remain in contact with airlines for updates.
