French air traffic controllers strike to ground flights at several airports
Other airports in the south are affected as well as those in Lyon and Corsica
The strike is mostly limited to airports in the south
Byjeng / Shutterstock
A one-day strike by air traffic controllers is set to ground flights from regional French airports tomorrow (Tuesday, December 17).
No flights will depart or land at Montpellier, Nîmes and Perpignan airports, and 60% of flights to and from Lyon-Saint-Exupéry have been cancelled.
Delays are also expected at Ajaccio airport in Corsica, although flights do not yet seem to have been fully cancelled.
The cancellation announcement was made by France’s Civil Aviation Authority (DGAC).
The strike is localised, meaning passengers at France’s other airports should not be affected however the DGAC recommends those scheduled to fly tomorrow check the status of their flight.
‘Abrupt halt to negotiations’
A localised strike motion by the largest air traffic controllers union, the SNCTA, was filed on December 8.
The union cited an “abrupt halt to negotiations re the organisation of work at the Ajaccio, Lyon and Montpellier organisations for 2025,” as its reasoning in a press release.
There has long been tension between air traffic control unions and the DGAC/airport authorities over a change in job role of air traffic controllers.
This culminated in widespread strike action in 2023 and the start of 2024 to the annoyance of international carriers such as Ryanair.
Striking air traffic controllers affect not only the flights to and from French airports but also international routes flying over French airspace.
A change in law in 2023 meant air traffic controllers must give at least two days’ notice before joining strike action to allow the DGAC and airports to better manage disruption and minimise flight cancellations.
Read more: French MPs move to stop last-minute air traffic controller strikes
More strikes to come?
The SNCTA warned “that the management style…denounced on several occasions must cease immediately.”
“Failing this [the union] will not hesitate to mobilise the profession more widely,” it said.
This could include disruption at the major Parisian airports, Nice, and Bordeaux among others.
The aviation sector has been threatening strike action since October after increases to airline ‘solidarity taxes’ were introduced in the now-scrapped 2025 budget.
The increases included in the original budget were significantly reduced by the Senate and the budget was rejected. The budget saw then prime minister Michel Barnier ousted when he failed a vote of no confidence on December 4.
A return of these taxes in any form in the upcoming budget of new prime minister François Bayrou may again see unions call for action.
Read more: Strikes in France in December 2024 and how you may be impacted
