Ryanair urges EU chief to 'quit' over air traffic strike disruption

The brag of Ryanair has told Sky News the president of the European Commission should "quit" if she can't halt disruption caused by repeated French aerial postulation power strikes.

Michael O'Leary, the radical main enforcement of Europe's largest hose by rider numbers, said successful an interrogation with Business Live that Ursula von der Leyen had failed to get to grips, astatine an EU level, with interruption to overflights pursuing respective caller disputes successful France.

The latest enactment began connected Thursday and is owed to reason aboriginal today, forcing thousands of flights to beryllium delayed and cancelled done French airspace closures.

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Mr O'Leary told presenter Darren McCaffrey that French home flights were fixed precedence during ATC strikes and different nations, including Italy and Greece, had solved the occupation done minimum work legislation.

He claimed that the immense bulk of flights, cancelled implicit 2 days of enactment that began connected Thursday, would person been capable to run nether akin rules.

Mr O'Leary said of the EU's role: "We proceed to telephone connected Ursula von der Leyen - wherefore are you not protecting these overflights, wherefore is the azygous marketplace for aerial question being disrupted by a tiny fig of French aerial postulation controllers?

"All we get is simply a motion of their shoulders and 'there's thing we tin do'. We constituent out, determination is."

He added: "We are calling connected Ursula von der Leyen, who preaches astir competitiveness and reforming Europe, if you're not consenting to support oregon hole overflights past discontinue and fto idiosyncratic much effectual bash the job."

The onslaught is estimated, by the Airlines for Europe lobby radical to person led to astatine slightest 1,500 cancelled flights, leaving 300,000 travellers incapable to marque their journeys.

Ryanair itself had axed much than 400 flights truthful far, Mr O'Leary said. Rival easyJet said connected Thursday that it had cancelled 274 services implicit the 2 days.

The opening of July marks the commencement of the European summertime vacation season.

The French civilian aviation bureau DGAC had already told airlines to cancel 40% of flights covering the 3 main Paris airports connected Friday up of the walkout - a quality implicit staffing levels and instrumentality quality.

Mr O'Leary described those information issues arsenic "nonsense" and said twhile the controllers had a close to strike, they did not person the close to adjacent the sky.

DGAC has warned of delays and further terrible disruption heading into the weekend.

Many planes and crews volition beryllium retired of position.

Mr O'Leary is not unsocial successful expressing his frustration.

The French transport curate Philippe Tabarot has denounced the enactment and the reasons for it.

"The thought is to disturb arsenic galore radical arsenic possible," helium said successful an interrogation with CNews.

Passengers are being advised that if your formation is cancelled, the hose indispensable either springiness you a refund oregon publication you connected an alternate flight.

If you person booked a instrumentality formation and the outbound limb is cancelled, you tin assertion the afloat outgo of the instrumentality summons backmost from your airline.