Over 1,000 employees of French carrier Air Lib blocked traffic into Paris' Orly airport for several hours today after they were evicted from the airport itself by police with tear gas.
The Air Lib employees face losing their jobs after the French government admitted at the weekend the struggling carrier was headed for bankruptcy.
Some 1,300 workers, according to police blockaded a major highway into Orly West between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. (midday to 2 p.m. Irish time), forcing passengers to walk the last kilometre to the airport.
The protesting workers dispersed peacefully shortly before 3 p.m. (2 p.m. Irish time).
Earlier today , the workers had mounted a protest inside the airport itself, but were scattered by riot police.
According to witnesses, police fired a stream of tear gas into the crowd shortly before a demonstrator let off a smoke-bomb.
There was a moment of panic as the crowd surged out of the airport, with children crying after breathing in the tear gas hanging in the air, witnesses said.
But French customs police denied officers had used tear gas, saying they had only used smoke-bombs.
AFP