French strike and ATC restrictions to disrupt European flights

Airlines across Europe are bracing for another summer of flight disruption, as French air traffic controllers prepare to strike for the first time this summer later today and operators face restrictions related to ATC capacity issues. The 35h walkout in France, part of widespread strike action across the country, is set to start at 19:00 local time today and end at 05:00 on 10 May. Network manager Eurocontrol says it is hard to predict disruptions, but has asked operators to reduce flight programmes by 30% at Paris Orly, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse airports. Among those to be hit is UK low-cost carrier EasyJet, which says around 65% of its flights pass through French airspace. Airlines have warned repeatedly that passengers should expect disruption this summer as a result of expected strikes, staff shortages and congestion as Europe's skies struggle to keep up with growing travel demand. Eurocontrol says that ATC staffing issues, weather, an increase in traffic and a lack of capacity had resulted in 25.6m minutes of air traffic flow management (ATFM) delay in 2018. With each minute costing users around E70, that resulted in an additional cost of E1.7b for airspace users. This year, Eurocontrol warns, "could be just as bad, as the overall network capacity is less than it was in 2018".<br/>