Ryanair forced to cancel over 300 flights amid French air traffic strike

Ryanair has cancelled over 300 of its flights on Thursday due to a strike by French air traffic control (ATC) workers.

The cancellations will impact all flights in France's airspace, including flights that are passing over France, and not just taking off from or landing there, due to the absence of ATC staff to coordinate plane movements in the skies.

Ryanir boss Michael O'Leary confirmed the airline's decision to cancel the flights, which will affect 50,000 passengers, and has called for action to limit the damage that can be done by the frequency of French ATC strikes.

READ MORE: TUI announces stunning new holiday destinations from Dublin and Cork airports

In a video statement posted to X, O'Leary said: "French air traffic controllers are free to go on strike, that's their right, but we should be cancelling French flights, not flights leaving Ireland going to Italy, or flights from Germany to Spain or Scandinavia to Portugal.

"The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has failed for five years to take any action to protect over-flights. We're calling on her again tomorrow - take some action, protect over-flights, and then we would eliminate 90 per cent of these flight cancellations and flight disruptions."

He concluded: "In June, we'll have European elections. We encourage everybody to vote in those European elections, but demand of your MEP and the European Commission to then take action to protect over-flights because we can't have the skies over Europe repeatedly closed because French air traffic controllers are going on strike."

Aer Lingus also clarified its position on the disruption, saying in a statement: "We continue to monitor the situation and will update customers via our website or SMS messaging should the situation impact our flight schedule."

Dublin Airport confirmed the significant number of flights flying in and out that will be impacted by the strike in France, affecting a variety of European airlines.

In a statement, the airport said: "Due to a planned Air Traffic Control strike in France, a total of 36 flights due to operate at Dublin Airport today have been cancelled by airlines, including 23 departures and 13 arrivals.

"Passengers should check directly with their airline for updates regarding specific flights."

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.