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The British airlines IAG and easyJet , Irish Ryanair and Hungarian Wizz Air announced Tuesday that they have lodged a complaint against France to the European Union, protesting the repercussions of air traffic controllers' strikes.
These companies believe that the repeated strikes of air traffic controllers in France restrict the principle of freedom of movement within the EU, according to a joint statement.
They do not contest the right to strike but judge that France does not respect the European law by not allowing any flight to cross France during these social movements.
According to these companies, the strikes of the air traffic controllers in the country are four times higher since January, compared to 2017.
Citing Eurocontrol, the European body ensuring the safety of the air traffic, they estimate that 16.000 flights were disturbed until June because of these strikes, affecting 2 millions of pbadengers. They also put forward a report from the French Senate that the strikes of the French air traffic controllers were responsible for a third of flight delays in Europe.
The companies are based on the case of Spain to whom Europe had been right about a complaint in 1997 against France which had prevented Spanish exports of fruit and vegetables in the EU for years.
"It is not only customers leaving or arriving in France who are during strikes by French air traffic controllers Pbadengers on lines crossing France, especially the airspace above Marseille and the Mediterranean are also subject to significant delays and disruption ", explains Willie Walsh, Director General from IAG, owner of British Airways and Iberia.
Ryanair Managing Director Michael O'Leary is surprised that France is not taking the same s precautions than other countries. "When there are air traffic controller strikes in Greece and Italy, the flights over the country are going normally, why is France not doing the same?", He asks, even though his company has to do in the face of strikes by his pilots and cabin crew.
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