Planes are seen on the tarmac of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, outside Paris, on July 3, 2025, as French air traffic controllers launched a two-day strike. THIBAUD MORITZ / AFP
French air traffic controllers staged the second day of a two-day strike on Friday, July 4, prompting the cancellation of hundreds of flights not just to and from France, but also overflying the country to other destinations. Paris airports were even more severely affected than on the first day of the strike on Thursday, which was called by two minority unions calling for better working conditions and staffing.
France’s DGAC civil aviation authority said 1,125 flights had been canceled on Friday, compared to 933 flights on Thursday. French flag-carrier Air France said its long-haul flights were not affected. In the southern Mediterranean city of Nice, the airport said 200 trips had been canceled on Thursday, and 220 on Friday, affecting 50,000 passengers. No private jets had landed or taken off from the Cote d’Azur hub in two days, it added, though it did not say how many such trips had been planned.
The timing of the strike was particularly acute, as Friday was the last day of school in France before summer holidays, with many families planning an early getaway. French Prime Minister François Bayrou described the strike as “shocking.” “Choosing the day when everyone goes on holiday to go on strike at air traffic control is taking the French hostage,” he told BFMTV.
The strike was due to end Friday evening and no disruptions were expected on Saturday.
‘Unacceptable’
The effects of the strike are not limited to France, and the stoppage has triggered hundreds of cancellations of flights that fly over the country. The European Airlines for Europe (A4E) association said 1,500 flights would be canceled on Thursday and Friday in Europe, affecting 300,000 passengers.
“French air traffic control already delivers some of Europe’s worst delay figures, and now the actions of a minority of French air traffic control workers will needlessly disrupt the holiday plans of thousands of people in France and across Europe,” said A4E chief Ourania Georgoutsakou.
The association said the strikes also caused “almost 500,000 minutes” in delays in Europe on Thursday on nearly 33,000 commercial flights. Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, said it had canceled more than 400 flights. “These strikes are unacceptable,” said Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary, urging the EU Commission to protect such overflights by law in case of strikes. “Of these 400 flight cancellations, 350 would not be canceled if the EU protected overflights over France.”