Up to 35 Ryanair flights arriving and departing from Dublin Airport will be cancelled on the Bank Holiday Monday due to the latest French air traffic control strike.
On Saturday evening, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary released a video statement saying his company would cancel 220 flights on Monday.
A Ryanair spokesperson could not provide an exact list of flights that will be affected across Europe.
However, airline industry sources have told RTÉ News that at least 25-35 flights arriving and departing from Dublin Airport will be affected.
Further cancellations at Cork and Belfast airports are also likely, with thousands of Irish passengers expected to be affected by the situation.
Michael O’Leary said the situation across Europe will affect a total of 40,000 passengers across the continent, blaming both French officials and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the disruption.
He said that if he accepts French workers’ right to strike, it is unreasonable for the problem to affect flights that cross French airspace but do not land in France.
“France is using minimum service legislation to protect its local French flights.
“But all the cancellations are then being disproportionately being passed on to English flights, Irish flights, Italian flights, Spanish flights, German flights. This is unfair,” Mr O’Leary said.
“When there are air traffic control strikes in Italy, they protect overflights [the technical term for flights travelling through a country’s air space without landing in that country].
“In Greece they protect overflights.
“France must be required by the EU commission to protect overflights.
“It is unfair that flights from the UK to Spain or from Italy to Portugal are being cancelled simply because a bunch of French air traffic control units want to go on strike.
“We respect their right to strike, but if they want to strike cancel the French flights, protect the overflights,” Mr O’Leary said, reports RTE.
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