Ryanair has launched a petition among its passengers, asking them to support its calls for European authorities to protect overflights of French territory, affected by strikes by air traffic controllers against pension reform (AFP/Archives/Emmanuel DUNAND)
Ryanair launched a petition to its passengers on Monday, asking them to support its calls for European authorities to protect overflights of French territory, affected by strikes by air traffic controllers against pension reform.
The Irish company calls on its customers “to sign its petition + protect passengers – keep the skies of the EU open + and to join its appeal to the European Commission”, according to a press release, which accuses the institution led by Ursula von der Leyen “inaction”.
The low-cost carrier, Europe’s largest in number of passengers carried, says the strike action by French air traffic controllers has delayed or canceled the flights of more than a million passengers since the start of the year.
“Most of the disrupted passengers do not fly to/from France but fly over French airspace en route to their destination,” says the company, which believes that French law provides more protection for flights from or to airports in France. ‘Hexagon.
Air authorities have been asking carriers to reduce traffic in France almost daily for several weeks due to the strike action by air traffic controllers against the pension reform project.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) thus ordered airlines on Monday to cut Tuesday and Wednesday 20% of their flights at Paris-Orly and Marseille-Provence (south-east), two particularly affected airports.
Ryanair says it wants to submit its petition, launched on the internet, to the European Commission when it has been signed by 1 million people – around 11:30 GMT on Monday, it was approaching 1,000 signatories.
The company regularly targets French air traffic control (ATC, by its acronym in English).
Geography means that many Ryanair routes between the British Isles and Southern Europe must pass through French airspace.
In January, Ryanair had already suggested to the European Commission to have recourse to minimum service, to impose on the unions an arbitration phase before the strike or even “to authorize the other European ATCs to manage flights above France” during the social movements.
© 2023 AFP
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