ATC strike 11/12/13 june 2013

http://www.ryanair.com/ie/notices/gops/130708-FRENCH_STRIKE_23_EN-GB

Ryanair has been advised by the French Civil Aviation Authority of confirmed strike action by French air traffic controllers from the 11-13 June inclusive and as a consequence Ryanair has been forced to cancel some flights operating on the 11th June. All affected passengers will be notified by email/sms detailing their rerouting or refund options. Further cancellations for the 12 and 13 June will be published on this website on the 11 June 2013.

http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2013/06/10/44328/ryanair+calls+on+eu+commission+to+prevent+atc+strikes.html

Extract :

Ryanair has called on Brussels to step in to prevent a three-day strike by French air traffic controllers this week.

The budget carrier, which has been forced to cancel more than 100 flights to and from France on Tuesday, is warning that other flights through French air space may also be disrupted.

A spokesman said: “It is unacceptable that the skies over Europe are repeatedly closed or flights are delayed by the unjustified strike action of tiny numbers of air traffic controllers.

“These public servants are among the most overpaid and protected in Europe and yet they repeatedly opt for the strike weapon as a first, rather than a last resort.

He added: “The solution to this problem is simple: remove their right to strike in exactly the same way that air traffic controllers in the USA are prevented by law from striking.

undefined wrote:
A spokesman said: “It is unacceptable that the skies over Europe are repeatedly closed or flights are delayed by the unjustified strike action of tiny numbers of air traffic controllers.

“These public servants are among the most overpaid and protected in Europe and yet they repeatedly opt for the strike weapon as a first, rather than a last resort.

He added: “The solution to this problem is simple: remove their right to strike in exactly the same way that air traffic controllers in the USA are prevented by law from striking.

Well we can ignore the political rethoric.  What is interesting to observe is that Ryanair has cancelled almost all flights through French air space while competitors such as BA seem to have been able to route around French airspace and keep their Spanish and Italian, etc. routes going

Ryanair did not cancel that many flights, besides those to France itself.
From Charleroi, yesterday : Barcelona and Reus; today : Faro, Porto, Barcelona, Santander and Marrakech.
I did a return trip Charleroi-Porto yesterday; whilst the morning flight was only slightly delayed by the strikers, the return was much more difficult : first flight plan cancelled by the French ATC, need to wait for another flight plan, and an eventual delay of one hour...

atoutprix wrote:Ryanair did not cancel that many flights, besides those to France itself.
From Charleroi, yesterday : Barcelona and Reus; today : Faro, Porto, Barcelona, Santander and Marrakech.
I did a return trip Charleroi-Porto yesterday; whilst the morning flight was only slightly delayed by the strikers, the return was much more difficult : first flight plan cancelled by the French ATC, need to wait for another flight plan, and an eventual delay of one hour...

The ryanair web site is listing many cancalations to Spanish locations BA report none.

http://www.ryanair.com/en/notices/gops/130610-12_june_cxl-GB

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/air-passengers-face-summer-of-discontent-warns-europes-biggest-airline-8658145.html

Extract :

Ryanair said that 90,000 of its passengers had been affected by the French air-traffic controllers’ stoppage, and described it as the most disruptive event since the volcanic ash cloud in 2010.

The controllers’ union, the USAC-CGT, described the strike as “an unprecedented success”. The union claimed more than half the flights to, from and within France had been axed. Many more departures that were due to overfly France were also cancelled, including dozens of flights between Britain and Spain.

Ryanair is laying on extra flights from Malaga and Palma to Stansted today to try to clear the backlog. Robin Niely, the airline’s head of communications, said: “These air-traffic controllers deliberately initiated industrial action at the busiest time of the year in order to cause maximum chaos, targeting Europe’s holidaymakers.

The French stoppage, in protest against cost-cutting measures and Europe’s “Single European Sky” project, ended yesterday morning. The EU project has ambitious targets: to triple airspace capacity, reduce the environmental impact of aviation by 10 per cent and to halve air-navigation charges.