Brits’ Easter holiday plans could be thrown into disarray by French air traffic controllers planning walkouts.
France is in the grips of a series of protests, with hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets over Emmanuel Macron’s decision to raise the pension age from 62 to 64.
Already this month the King has been forced to scrap his first state visit over fears for the safety of the monarch.
Now plans by other Brits to travel abroad could be in ruins as air traffic controllers are set to walk out, despite the fact they are not affected by the age rise as they can retire at 57 and are exempt.
Instead, they are to down tools in solidarity with other workers.
Bosses of Europe’s biggest airlines convened yesterday for a summit in Brussels and agreed holidaymakers could be in for a “very difficult summer”, according to the Times.
Johan Lundgren, boss of easyJet, said: “It is something we have to plan for, and we are doing our best to try to mitigate it, but of course it is very difficult . . . sometimes you only get 24 hours’ notice.”
Michael O’Leary of Ryanair said his firm has had to cancel hundreds of flights because of the strikes already.
He added: “It is very difficult to explain to passengers in the UK, Ireland and Spain their flights are cancelled because of a few air traffic controllers in France walking out, even though their flight is not landing in France.”
The strikes affect flights not landing in the country as they use French airspace.
Ryanair has also launched a petition calling on the EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen “to protect overflights and keep EU skies open during ATC strikes”.
It reads: “Over 400,000 Ryanair passengers last weekend had their flights disrupted due to French ATC strikes while Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commission has done nothing to protect them – this is unacceptable.
“Sign our petition and call on Commission President Von der Leyen to take action to protect flights from avoidable disruptions this summer.
“Ryanair will submit this petition to the EU Commission at 1 million signatures and demand that they take action to protect European passengers and their families by keeping EU skies open during ATC strikes.”
While tourists are unlikely to face any danger to themselves from the protests, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has warned travellers to France that they may face disruption to services as a result of the strikes.
The latest Government advice reads: “Since mid-March there have been spontaneous protests in central Paris and elsewhere in France. Protests are likely to take place and could occur with little notice. Some protests have turned violent. The protests may lead to disruptions to road travel.
“There is also ongoing strike action affecting multiple sectors including transport networks. “Coordinated strike action and large-scale demonstrations are next planned for Thursday 6 April.
“Industrial action may start the evening before the strike day and run for several days.”
