Will your flight be affected?
Irish airlines are advising customers to keep an eye on the status of any flights to and from France and flights that travel over the country on Tuesday (22 May).
The announcement comes ahead of the French National Strike, which is expected to cause serious travel disruption as air traffic controllers are expected to join the industrial action.
In a statement, Ryanair condemned the strike as “unjustified”, saying: “Due to yet another French ATC strike, Ryanair regrets to inform customers that it has been forced to cancel a number of flights on Tuesday (22 May).
“All affected customers have been contacted by email and text message and advised of their options: a full refund, rebooking on to the next available flight or free transfer to an alternative flight.
“Due to this unjustified ATC strike action, we also expect delays to flights to/from/over France and we advise customers due to travel on Tuesday to check the status of their flight on the Ryanair.com website. We also encourage all customers to sign A4E’s online petition, Keep Europe’s Skies Open.”
A French National Strike may impact air traffic services this week. If travelling to France this week please check flight status before departing for the airport. Travel to France on Tue 22 May can be changed to Mon 21, Wed 23, Thu 24, or Fri 25 May, regardless of flight status.
— Aer Lingus (@AerLingus) May 20, 2018
Aer Lingus has also issued a statement confirming that air traffic services will be disrupted by “some operational disruption” as a result of the strike.
“We advise all guests with planned travel to France to check the status of their flight, using our live flight information tool, before departing for the airport.
“Guests travelling to a French airport on an Aer Lingus operated flight on Tuesday 22 May, can opt to change the date of their flight to Monday 21 May, Wednesday 23, Thursday 24, or Friday 25 May, regardless of whether their flight is operating or not.
“We will update guests via our website, SMS messaging and our social media channels should further information be made available. We apologise for this schedule disruption, which is due to circumstances beyond our control.”
Aer Lingus has not yet changed its schedule as a result of the strike action. However, as of 1pm on 21 May, Ryanair had cancelled flights from Dublin to Carcassonne, Ibiza and Biarritz.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
