“French air traffic controllers may strike, but European airspace must remain open,” O’Leary said at a press conference. “If strikes continue in France, cancel domestic or short-haul flights for which travelers have alternatives. But do not hinder overflying air traffic. That goes against the free movement of people in Europe.”
During the first five months of this year, according to Ryanair, air traffic controllers were on strike on 57 days, ten times more than in 2022. Thousands of overflying flights had to be cancelled. France should follow the example of Spain, Italy and Greece, according to O’Leary. Those countries introduced a minimum service for overflying traffic.
The problem is that French air traffic controllers are responsible for a large part of the airspace in the center of Europe, with areas as far as the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. There is only a minimum service for flights to and from France, not for overflying traffic. Ryanair now wants “100 percent protection” for overflying traffic in the event of national strikes by air traffic controllers.