"We've been notified by the French Aviation Authorities of the 51st day of the strike, on Monday, May 1st, and that we must cancel another 220 flights, affecting 40,000 passengers; this is unacceptable," said Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair, Europe's largest airline.
Michael O'Leary: ''We've been notified by the French Aviation Authorities of the 51st day of striking, on Monday May 1st, and that we must cancel another 220 flights, impacting 40,000 passengers..this is unacceptable'' pic.twitter.com/KmAiY9wCrn
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) April 29, 2023
Over 600,000 passengers have signed Ryanair's "Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open" petition, which calls on EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take immediate action to protect European citizens' freedom of movement and overflights during French ATC strikes. When Ryanair's petition receives one million signatures, the airline will submit it to the EU Commission and urge that President Ursula von der Leyen finally act to preserve EU citizens' freedom of movement when French ATC strikes frequently.
Despite only being in operation for 5 weeks, Ryanair has already collected over 600,000 signatures from passengers who are sick and tired of having their travel plans cancelled at the last minute due to French ATC strikes, all because the EU Commission has failed to protect their right to free movement. EU citizens have realised that French ATC unions are causing unnecessary disruptions to their travel arrangements and are requesting action from the EU Commission.
Over 50 days of French ATC strikes (10 times more than in all of 2022) forced Ryanair to cancel over 3,700 flights, cancelling over 666,000 passengers' flights on short notice in the first four months of 2023. France uses Minimum Service Legislation to safeguard domestic flights, whereas EU overflights from Germany, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Ireland are cancelled disproportionately. This is unjust and must be changed. Overflights are already protected in Italy and Greece during ATC strikes, and the EU Commission must now insist that France do the same.
According to a Ryanair spokesperson:
"We have received over 600,000 signatures on our Protect Passengers: Keep EU Skies Open petition from passengers urging EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take immediate action to protect their Freedom of Movement and overflights by keeping EU skies open during repeated French ATC strikes." We are quickly approaching the one million signatures required to compel the EU Commission to act to defend overflights and EU citizens' freedom of movement. French ATC strikes are the number one danger to EU residents' travel plans this summer, and passengers are becoming aware that the EU Commission is doing nothing to alleviate that risk and defend their freedom of movement. EU people are already signing our petition to the EU Commission requesting action to protect their and their families' travel plans this summer. The EU's air transport Single Market should not be routinely disrupted by tiny French ATC unions because the EU Commission fails to act. Overflights should be protected during French ATC strikes, as Italy and Greece already do. If French ATC unions insist on striking (which they have the right to do), then cancel French flights and safeguard overflights."