Paris Orly Airport
The French civil aviation authority has ordered airlines to cancel 70% of flights at Paris Orly Airport on Saturday and Sunday due to an air traffic controller strike.
“The cancellations will affect commercial flights from 0400 GMT Saturday until late Sunday”, the DGAC authority said.
The protest occurs as France’s second largest airport prepares for a massive influx for the Paris Olympics, which begin July 26. This is the second big strike by air traffic controllers in a month. The last one resulted in the cancellation of thousands of flights around Europe.
The airport administration and the primary union, the SNCTA, reached an agreement to resolve the conflict. However, the second largest labor group, UNSA-ICNA, authorized the latest stoggage, citing low personnel levels.
“The managers at Orly continue their penny-pinching and shopkeeper accounts which will quickly lead to our teams being understaffed by the year 2027”, the company stated in a statement.
The government has condemned the strike.
“I deplore the behavior of some local level agents who refuse to recognize the legitimacy of a majority accord and are making passengers pay the price”, said deputy transport minister Patrice Vergriete.
Orly, south of Paris, is the capital’s second-largest airport after Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle, with more than 32 million passengers last year.
It serves as a hub for national carrier Air France as well as Transavia, its low-cost subsidiary. More than 20 additional airlines, including easyJet, Iberia, and TAP, fly from Orly.
“Only flights between Orly and French overseas territories would operate normally this weekend”, reported the DGAC.
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