In France, up to half of the flights have been canceled due to the air traffic controllers' strike during the peak season

Between 10 and 50% of flights were cancelled at all airports in France, and hundreds of thousands of passengers had to change their plans in the height of the summer tourist season due to a strike by air traffic controllers. This was reported by Le Figaro.

The flight cancellations affected Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais airports, which serve Paris, as well as the airports of Nice, Marseille, Lyon, and others.

The air traffic controllers' strike began the previous day on Thursday, when about 10% of flights were canceled, but gained momentum on Friday, when the percentage of canceled flights reached 50%.

French airports were not accepting or sending flights, which affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.

According to the French Civil Aviation Authority, 272 air traffic controllers participated in the strike, which is 26.2% of their total number in France.

"We must realize that yesterday and today, 272 people in our country will affect the well-being of more than 500,000 people. This is unacceptable," French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot criticized the action.

He emphasized that the strike is taking place in the summer, when a large number of families are traveling on vacation with their children.

The unions explained the protest by stating that the rapidly growing air traffic requires an increase in the number of air traffic controllers. They also demand higher salaries, as inflation is eroding their wages.

In addition, the unions are protesting against new reforms aimed at stricter control over their work, which came after an incident at Bordeaux airport where planes almost collided.

• Europe's largest budget airline, Ryanair, announced on Thursday, July 3, that it would have to cancel 170 flights due to the air traffic controllers' strike in France, affecting more than 30,000 passengers.
• EasyJet announced the cancellation of 274 flights on July 3 and 4. The airline estimates that the strike will affect 20,000 to 25,000 passengers daily.