Ryanair in turbulence: 170 flights cancelled, thousands stranded in France

Ryanair said it was forced to cancel 170 flights affecting over 30,000 passengers due to a national strike by air traffic controllers in France, planned on Thursday and Friday.

The disruption comes at the start of Europe's summer holidays, one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

"In addition to flights to/from France being cancelled, this strike will also affect all French overflights," the Irish airline said in a statement.


The French civil aviation agency DGAC on Wednesday asked multiple carriers to reduce flights at Paris airports by 40% on July 4 due to the planned strike.

Passengers overflying French airspace from the United Kingdom to Greece and Spain to Ireland would also be affected, the Irish carrier said.

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take urgent action to reform European Union air traffic controllers' services.


The Irish carrier last month had cancelled more than 800 flights, attributing the significant disruption to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.