Ryanair has said up to 600 flights a day could be grounded next week when French air traffic controllers walk out, potentially disrupting travel for 100,000 passengers daily.
The country’s largest ATC union, SNCTA, has called a strike from 7 to 10 October, cutting capacity across western European skies. Flights between the UK and popular holiday destinations such as Spain, Italy, and Greece are expected to be hit, as many of those routes overfly France.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s CEO, renewed calls for the EU to protect overflights during ATC strikes. “They have the right to strike, but if flights are to be cancelled they should be flights arriving to and from France. They should not be overflights,” he said, urging European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to intervene.
O’Leary also suggested Eurocontrol could step in to manage overflights during industrial action.
The airline has already faced significant disruption this autumn: about 30 flights were cancelled on Thursday due to smaller-scale ATC walkouts, while a strike on 18 September delayed more than 190 Ryanair flights, impacting 35,000 passengers.
Other carriers, including EasyJet and British Airways, have not yet confirmed the expected scale of disruption, though all airlines operating in European airspace are likely to be affected.
The strikes add to wider air traffic issues in Europe, with post-pandemic staff shortages, technical glitches, and the ongoing closure of Ukrainian and Russian airspace placing further strain on flight routes.
