Will your flight be cancelled on Thursday? The administration on Tuesday asked airlines to preemptively give up 30% of their flights Thursday at Paris-Orly airport amid the mobilization of air traffic controllers against the pension reform.

For the same reason, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) has required carriers to cancel 20% of their aircraft movements scheduled for Thursday at the airports of Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Montpellier and Nantes, it said in a statement.

First requests for "abatements"

This is the first time since the beginning of the movement against the pension reform that airports other than Orly are affected by these requests for "abatements", necessary in the name of security: it is a question of matching airport traffic and the number of controllers available to manage it.

During the first three days of mobilization, the DGAC had requested the cancellation of 20% of movements at Orly, while during the fourth, last Saturday, no prior measures had been taken. However, controllers had stopped work while the major unions had called for demonstrations, but not for strikes, regardless of the sector.

As a result, the DGAC had to cancel in the short term one flight out of two to Orly on Saturday afternoon, while Toulouse airport had closed in the evening, taking the companies and many passengers by surprise. This time, the strike notice for Thursday "was relayed by several representative unions of air traffic controllers," explained the DGAC on Tuesday.

91% of short and medium-haul flights at Air France

"In order to limit traffic disruptions," the administration "will apply the provisions of the minimum service in en route air navigation centers (CRNA, which manage aircraft movements in flight, N.D.L.R.) and in the air navigation services of airports where regulatory provisions allow it," according to the same source.

The DGAC warned that "despite these preventive measures, disruptions and delays" were to be expected, and invited "passengers who can to postpone their trip and to inquire with their airline to know the status of their flight".

Adapting its program to the requests of the DGAC, the company Air France said on Tuesday evening that it would provide "91% of its short and medium-haul flights" Thursday and "all of its long-haul flights".

"If last-minute delays and cancellations are not to be excluded, Air France plans to route all customers in possession of a reservation for the day of February 16," added the carrier, adding that customers affected by canceled flights would be notified individually.

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  • Pension reform 2023
  • Society
  • Orly
  • Airport
  • Retirement
  • Strike
  • Airline