A strike by air traffic controllers in France caused misery for air travellers.

Airport news for Travel,Flights on 22/07/2010.

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Up to 50 per cent of flights were cancelled on Wednesday during industrial action by French air traffic controllers. Flights out of Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport were cancelled at a rate of one-in-five. Meanwhile, at Paris-Orly airport half of flights remained on the ground as yet another strike hit European aviation, causing misery for passengers and worry for airlines already pressured by economic gloom, high oil prices and several major interruptions to global air travel in the last few years.

The strike by French air traffic controllers was the third round of major industrial action to hit airports in France this year. Flights at most airports in the country were hit by the action. Ryanair called for government action to prevent disruptions during future industrial action. The budget carrier wants the army to be used to provide air traffic control services and make sure airports stay open if there are any more strikes.

Unions in France that represent air traffic controllers called the strike action to demonstrate against plans to combine the 4,000 controllers in France and 8,000 other staff in France’s civil aviation authority, DGAC, into a Europe-wide traffic control system. Under proposed arrangements, the 27 different air traffic control systems in the European Union would be rationalised into a network of nine hubs.

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