Travellers going to France warned as Foreign Office issues urgent flight warning

The Foreign Office has issued an urgent warning for people flying to France as flyers are urged not to head to the airport without checking with their airline.

In their latest update, the government said that flights across the country will be "disrupted" or "cancelled" as a result of strikes.

They caution: "It is being reported that on Thursday 25 April 2024, flights across France will be disrupted, with many cancelled, following a call for strike action by air traffic control unions. Check your operator’s advice before travelling, including where you are taking connecting flights."

It comes as air traffic controllers in France have tried to reach a deal regarding working conditions. However this has resulted in scheduled trips being affected across three French airports.

As we reported earlier today, according to the country's DGAC civil aviation authority, these include 75 per cent of trips from Paris Orly airport, 55 per cent of flights at Paris Charles-De-Gaulle and 65 per cent at Marseille.

Not only are the air traffic control strikes impacting travel in Europe, limiting flights to France, but it is also affecting the country's airspace.

Ryanair warned they would have to cancel over 300 flights, including from Great Britain to Spain or to Italy as a result of the strikes.

Chief Executive of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, said in a statement on Wednesday: "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."

Despite the delays and cancellations, the SNCTA, the biggest of France's air traffic controllers union, said they were halting the April 25 strikes after reaching a deal with management over working conditions.

Reuters added that the deal came too late to avoid disruptions as discussions had not been finalised with other unions, DGAC said.

Ourania Georgoutsakou, head of industry group Airlines for Europe (A4E), on Wednesday: "While the withdrawing of strike notice may offer some relief for some passengers, its last-minute nature means that there will still be significant disruption to flights in France and across parts of Europe."

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