A French air-traffic controllers’ strike led to the cancellation today of 50 percent of flights at Paris Orly airport and 15 percent at Charles de Gaulle.
Airlines have been ordered to reduce services at the two Paris airports during the walkout scheduled to run until tomorrow, said Eric Heraud, a spokesman for the French civil aviation authority.
The third day of a four-day strike has forced Air France- KLM Group, Europe’s biggest carrier, and discount airline EasyJet Plc to slash flights as controllers protest plans to combine air-traffic centers across Europe. Air France has maintained long-haul flights while paring domestic and European operations by the required levels.
French controllers want to block European Union plans for a “single European sky” network that would merge some control centers and close others. France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland are scheduled to sign a treaty later this year in the first stage of the reorganization.
Source Bloomberg