Ryanair to cancel 220 flights due to French air traffic control strikes

Ryanair has said it is cancelling 220 flights due to air traffic controller (ATC) strikes in France, which the airline said will affect some 40,000 passengers over the May bank holiday weekend.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair chief executive, said the airline had been informed by French authorities that it would have to cancel more than 200 flights.

In a video posted on Facebook, Mr O’Leary criticised the impacts of the ongoing strikes by French airport ATC staff as “completely unacceptable”.

“The French authorities have told us we must cancel another 220 flights, most of them are overflying France,” he said.

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Michael O'Leary: French air traffic control strikes are “completely unacceptable”

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“That means another 40,000 passengers on the May bank holiday weekend are going to have their flights cancelled because of French ATC strikes,” he said.

Mr O’Leary said Ryanair wanted to “apologise sincerely” to passengers whose flights were disrupted, adding where flights were cancelled the airline had emailed customers to notify them.

A spokeswoman for Ryanair on Saturday said the airline did not yet have a breakdown available of the number of Irish flights that would be affected by the cancellations.

Mr O’Leary said in other countries, such as Italy and Greece, overflights, where a flight path travels over a country, the journeys were protected during strikes.

“It is unfair that flights from the UK to Spain or from Italy to Portugal are being cancelled simply because a bunch of French air traffic control units want to go on strike,” he said.

“We respect their right to strike, but if they want to strike, cancel the French flights, protect the overflights,” he said.