Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 4, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe French air traffic controllers' strike continues, causing widespread flight cancellations and delays, affecting 300,000 passengers across Europe.
PARIS (Reuters) -A strike by French air traffic controllers entered its second day on Friday, leaving many passengers stranded at the start of Europe's peak travel season.
Civil aviation agency DGAC told airlines to cancel 40% of flights at the three main Paris airports on Friday because of the strike, which the air traffic controllers say is over staff shortages and ageing equipment.
Up to half of flights at France's other airports, mostly in the south, were also affected, DGAC added.
"We are hostages of Paris," said Mariano Mignola, an Italian tourist stranded in the French capital's Orly airport with two young children.
"Today we had to go home and the first available flight is July 8. We have no flat, we can't find a hotel, we can't find a car, we can't find a train, we can't find anything," he said. "We are in a panic, the children are scared and we don't know what to do."
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot called the strike unacceptable as did Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary, who branded it "another recreational strike by French air traffic controllers' unions".
On top of the cancellations, DGAC warned that passengers could be affected by delays and significant disruption.
The Airlines for Europe (A4E) lobby group said late on Thursday that 1,500 flights had been cancelled over the two-day strike, affecting 300,000 passengers and causing cascading delays.
(Reporting by Makini Brice, Conor Humphries, Inti Landauro, Lucien Libert. Writing by Makini Brice and Ingrid Melander. Editing by David Goodman and Mark Potter)
The strike was initiated by air traffic controllers over staff shortages and other grievances.
Approximately 1,500 flights were canceled over the two-day strike, affecting around 300,000 passengers.
The DGAC advised airlines to cancel 40% of flights at the three main Paris airports due to the strike.
Passengers are experiencing significant disruptions, with many stranded and unable to find accommodations or alternative travel options.
French transport minister Philippe Tabarot called the strike unacceptable, and Ryanair's boss criticized it as a recreational strike by unions.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
