Irish passengers see further 14 flights from Dublin cancelled due to French strike

Ryanair was forced to cancel 400 flights across two days affecting 70,000 passengers.

Passengers heading off on summer holidays faced a second day of disruption today due to air traffic control strikes in France.

The Dublin Airport Authority (daa) said that 14 flights in and out of Dublin were cancelled early today, following 20 flights being cancelled on Thursday. 

Travellers would also be hit by knock-on delays arising from the cancellations, it warned.

It said passengers would also be affected by a ground strike in Finland, and urged passengers due to fly over mainland Europe to check directly with their airline.

Unions representing air traffic controllers in France have said its members were striking over persistent understaffing, outdated equipment and a toxic management culture.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, the chief executive of Cork and Dublin Airports said that Europe needs to take action to prevent ongoing disruption.

“This is the annual ransom by a very small group of French air traffic controllers,” Kenny Jacobs said.

“About 50 air traffic controllers in Paris have disrupted the plans of over half a million European travellers on the big exodus where everyone goes on their holidays and it's simply unacceptable.” 

Mr Jacobs said it was “very unfair” to Irish families flying to Faro wondering why they’re facing a four-to-six-hour delay because “they’re not going to France, but they’re flying over France”.

"The key thing that Europe needs to do is say to the French, flights over France cannot be disrupted if you're having a strike, that's your problem," he said.

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Ryanair, meanwhile, continued to criticise European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over the impact of the strikes, as it said it was forced to cancel 400 flights across the two days affecting 70,000 passengers.

“Over 350 of these are overflights, which could and should be protected by the EU Commission,” Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said.

“The bizarre justification for this week’s ATC strike is their objection to ‘short staffing’. Every year they find something new to strike about."