Ryanair owner Michael O’Leary said the UK is badly affected by French air traffic controller strikes
Howard Lloyd Regional content editor
15:50, 06 Oct 2025
Brits flying with Ryanair to France or Spain were likely to be affected by the strikes
Ryanair has issued a statement which could affect more than 100,000 of Brits flying to the continent this week. It relates to proposed strikes by France’s largest air traffic controllers’ union.
Members of the syndicat majoritaire des contrôleurs aériens (SNCTA) had proposed strikes ‘from the morning of October 7 until the end of night duty on the morning of October 10’ in a dispute over pay and working conditions. IT would not only affect flights heading to France, but also ‘overflights’ going to other popular destinations such as Spain, Portugal, and Italy.
Analysis by AirAdvisor showed the strike was likely to affect more than 129,600 UK passengers. A similar strike on July 3-4, triggered the cancellations of 1,500 flights, affecting more than 1 million passengers and costing airlines €120 million ($141 million).
However, budget airline Ryanair issued an update on the strikes on social media, confirming that they had been ‘postponed’: “French Air Traffic Control Strikes have been postponed until further notice – great (temporary) news BUT still a huge issue that affects all passengers flying over French airspace (even those not flying to/from France).”
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CEO Michael O’Leary has repeatedly called on European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to step up reform of the current system. Some countries, like Spain, Italy, and Greece, reportedly protect overflights during ATC strikes.
“The UK is the country whose flights get cancelled most because of the geographic proximity to France,” he said. Brits faced flights being axed at the last minute and others rerouted hundreds of miles out of the way, resulting in arrivals creeping into the early hours or simply overnighting at hubs. Even those flying to Greece, and parts of Germany and Switzerland should prepare for knock-on delays.
SNCTA said it had halted its proposed strikes following agreements and the French prime minister’s postponement of the French finance bill parliamentary debate.
French airspace acts as Europe’s bottleneck and more than 30 per cent of all UK-to-Mediterranean flights, and a huge chunk of UK-Spain, UK-Italy, and UK-Portugal routes were set to be affected.