French ATC Strike Grounds 1,000 Flights and Hits Ryanair, easyJet

France’s second consecutive day of air-traffic control strikes grounded about 40% of flights at the three main Paris airports on Friday and forced carriers to cancel roughly 1,000 services nationwide. The walkout, led by minority unions UNSA-ICNA and USAC-CGT, involved about 272 of the country’s 1,000 controllers but rippled across Europe because France sits under the continent’s busiest flight corridors.

Ryanair scrapped 468 flights and easyJet 274, while Lufthansa, Air France and British Airways also reported disruptions. Airlines for Europe, the industry lobby group, said at least 300,000 travellers were unable to fly. Each cancelled flight costs carriers about €17,000 and every minute of delay adds roughly €100, according to the French aviation federation. Lost navigation-fee revenue alone is estimated at €6 million to €9 million over the two-day stoppage.

The controllers are demanding more staff, upgrades to ageing radar systems and the withdrawal of a planned biometric time-clock system they view as punitive. The civil-aviation authority DGAC has defended the reforms, while Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot called the strike’s timing on the eve of France’s summer holidays “unacceptable.” Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary urged European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to intervene, arguing that France’s domestic flights should not be prioritised over trans-European overflights. Further industrial action has not been ruled out.