£100m hit to air travel caused by French air-traffic controller strikes, says industry body
The £104m impact of French air-traffic control strikes revealed
- A two-day strike by French air-traffic controllers on July 3 and 4 impacted one million airline passengers, resulting in nearly 3,000 flight cancellations and over 7,400 delays across Europe, costing the aviation industry an estimated €120m (£104m), Eurocontrol has said.
- Spain experienced the most significant delays, with Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona airports being the worst affected, and Ryanair cancelling the highest number of flights (718).
- The union, ICNA, attributed the strike to "glaring staff shortages" and "toxic management", leading to widespread disruption that extended far beyond France.
- The industrial action caused a substantial environmental impact, with an additional 3.75 million miles flown, burning 18,000 tons of fuel and generating 60,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
- Ryanair's CEO, Michael O’Leary, urged the European Commission to implement measures protecting overflights during national air-traffic control strikes to prevent similar future disruptions.