France: Expected chaos in the skies, on the ground and on the water may not become true

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Excpected as of tomorrow was chaos in the French transportation industry on the ground, on the water and the latest also in the skies.

Excpected as of tomorrow was chaos in the French transportation industry on the ground, on the water and the latest also in the skies.

Airlines, trains and ferries had been effected in strikes over the recent weeks, and now two main air traffic controllers unions were expected to spread Chaos to the airports in France and in Europe possibly effecting tens of thousands of air- passengers.

However there is some good news for travellers in France. The air traffic controllersโ€™ strike, set to run for six days from tomorrow, will not cause as much chaos as feared after the larger of the two unions involved lifted its walkout notice.

Strikes by French air traffic control staff have led to dozens of European flights being cancelled, with some travel to, from and over France affected.

For example, so far more than 50 flights between France and the UK cancelled from and to the UK , with easyJet forced to cancel 32 services due to fly today while Ryanair dropped 26.

British Airways has cancelled three UK flights tomorrow, from Heathrow to the French cities of Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse.

Negotiations with the government over the weekend prompted the SNCTA to call off its planned six-day strike.

Transport secretary Frรฉdรฉric Cuvillier described talks as โ€œconstructiveโ€ and said that a roundtable discussion on the future of air traffic control in Europe will take place in early July.

Disruption is still expected however, with members of the second union that had threatened action, UNSA-ICNA, still set to walk out.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) today instructed airlines to reduce scheduled flights by 20% to and from Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, and Toulouse, as well as flights to the South of France, the Iberian peninsula and North Africa out of Paris area airports.

Air France said today that it expected to operate all its long-haul flights and 90% of its short- and medium-haul services.

The two French air traffic controllersโ€™ unions had called a strike last week, in protest at a new financing plan for air navigation in France. The plan is due to be submitted to Brussels on June 30.

News that one of the unions had called off its strike action means that โ€œflights will be operated at 75% on average,โ€ the ministry said last night in a statement.

โ€œMost of the disturbances should affect airports in the south of France, and flights to southern Europe and North Africa,โ€ it added.

Last night, airlines were unable to say how many flights would be affected.

Meanwhile, traffic has returned to near-normal levels on Franceโ€™s major rail arteries as support for the longest strike in the country since 2010 peters out. Union members still involved in the dispute were due to vote on whether to continue their action this morning.

MPs are due to vote on the rail reform bill that has been at the centre of the dispute tomorrow. – See more at:

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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