All those travelling are being advised to check their flight schedule prior to flying.
Thousands of passengers across the EU are set to be affected by an air traffic control strike which will take place all through the weekend.
According to Dublin Airport, the strike is scheduled to start from 4.30am on the morning of Saturday 16 June – 4.30am on Monday 18 June.
Rumours of such strikes were rife throughout the week, with Ryanair calling for urgent action by the EU Commission and European Governments to prevent action such as this and to arrest the deterioration in Europe’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) services during the summer months.
All flights which fly to and over France will be affected by this weekend’s strike.
ATC strikes in France have been a common occurrence of late, with airlines and flights from a number of countries, including Ireland, affected as a result.
Dublin Airport took to Twitter to confirm the news, and urge passengers travelling this weekend to check their flight information on their website.
An ATC strike in southern France is scheduled to start from 04.30 Saturday June 16 until 04.30 on Monday June 18. Passengers are advised to check latest flight information with their airline before coming to @DublinAirport
— Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) June 15, 2018
Earlier this week, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary called these disruptions “unacceptable”, as he urged the UK and German Governments, as well as the EU Commission, the “act now.”
The budget airline, who has said that is expected hundreds of flights to be delayed as a result, issued a press release stating that customers scheduled to fly this weekend should expect delays and that all passengers will be contacted prior to travelling.
“French and Spanish ATC capacity issues have caused delays to 10 (2%) of our 440 first wave of flight departures this morning. We sincerely regret these delays which are unjustified and are doing our utmost to limit their impact on flights throughout the rest of today.
“Customers on impacted flights have been notified by SMS text and email.
“Due to yet another French ATC strike this weekend, Ryanair regrets to inform customers that it has been forced to cancel a number of flights.
“All affected customers will be contacted by email and text message and advised of their options.”
Last year, Ryanair was forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights in May alone, almost all due to ATC staff shortages and strikes. At time of writing, one Ryanair flight has been cancelled for the weekend – the Dublin to Nice service on Saturday.
Aer Lingus has also issued a statement, advising customers on what to do should their flight be disrupted.
“Please be advised of flight disruptions this weekend due to French Air Traffic Controller Strike.
“Guests planning to travel this weekend are advised to check the status of their flight on aerlingus.com before departing for the airport.
“If your flight has been cancelled, affected guests can opt to
- Be accommodated on the next available flight,
- Rebook their flight free of charge, or
- Cancel and apply for a refund.
“More information can be found below or by contacting our call centre on 00-353-1-8868989.
“Guests’ rights and airlines’ obligations under Regulation (EC) 261/2004, can be found here.”
As of Friday at 6pm, an Aer Lingus spokesperson confirmed to JOE that the airline has cancelled their services to Nice, Lyon and Marseilles and on Sunday to Marseilles – four flights in total.
The spokesperson continued to say that, at time of writing, just one of two flights to Lyon has been cancelled.
“Currently the 6.50am flight to Lyon (EI550) is scheduled. However, this is subject to change due to the Air Traffic Control Strike, which is why we are stating that guests are advised to check their flights prior to departing for the airport.”
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