Airlines face flight disruptions at Paris Orly due to French strike action
Airlines across Europe and Northern Africa are grappling with disruptions to scheduled operations to Paris-Orly (ORY) due to ongoing nationwide strike action in France.
In a statement released on January 29, 2023, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) announced that a two-day nationwide industrial strike will be taking place in France from January 30 to February 1, 2023.
The DGCA revealed that air traffic to and from Paris-Orly would be disrupted and that passengers and airlines should expect cancellations and delays. The DGCA also asked airlines to reduce their flight schedules by 20% for the duration of the strike action.
Since the start of the strike action, airlines such as Air France, Ryanair, easyJet and Royal Air Maroc have all announced reduced services or disruptions to their operations in and out of Paris-Orly.
Air France cuts 10% of short and medium-haul flights
In a statement released in response to the DGCA strike alert, Air France announced that it would trim its schedule and operate 90% of its short and medium-haul flights.
The airline highlighted that it would operate “all of its long-haul flights” but urged passengers to be cautious of last-minute delays and cancellations.
Ryanair cancels flights, calls on EU commission to protect overflights during strikes
Ryanair released a statement announcing that it had been “forced to cancel a small number of flights to/from France,” on January 31, 2023 due to the French Air Traffic Control (ATC) strike.
“It is inexplicable that the EU Commission continues to sit on their hands and ignore the widespread impact that these French ATC strikes have on EU passengers who are not even travelling to/from France, while the French Govt use their minimum services policy to protect French domestic flights for French citizens,” said Ryanair’s Neal McMahon.
“Ryanair once again calls on the EU Commission under Ursula Von Der Leyen to take immediate action to protect European citizens travelling from the likes of Ireland, Italy, Spain, Portugal and the UK whose travel plans will be needlessly disrupted today (31 Jan) due to the EU Commission’s repeated inaction to protect overflights when French ATC go on strike,” McMahon added.
Royal Air Maroc cancels flights to Paris-Orly airport
Royal Air Maroc (RAM) has also joined the list of airlines forced to trim their schedules due to the strike action in France.
“Following the civil service strike notice in France on January 31, 2023, all airlines have been asked to reduce their flight schedule for the day at Paris-Orly airport and Royal Air Maroc supports its customers by transferring them to other flights,” RAM said in a statement, which was reported by Morocco World News.
easyJet notifies passengers of disruptions during industrial action
In a statement released on its website, easyJet announced it was expecting flights to and from French airports to be affected by the national strike in France, which was joined by Air Traffic Control staff.
easyJet also advised passengers to be cautious of delays with public transport services, recommending passengers “allow plenty of extra time to get to the airport and consider alternative transport options”.
The national strike is part of ongoing protests in France to oppose the French government’s planned reform, which includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.