IAG, Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air say the ongoing industrial action by French ATC staff is restricting freedom of movement within the EU.
The airlines say they are not challenging ATC staff’s right to strike, but say France is breaking EU law by restricting flights over the country during walkouts - denying passengers their right to travel between member states not staging strike action.
According to the airlines, French ATC strikes are up 300% on 2017 with France alone responsible for a third of all flight delays in Europe, citing the French Senate’s own findings.
In the six months to June 2018, more than 16,000 flights had been delayed according to Eurocontrol, affecting more than two million passengers.
IAG chief executive Willy Walsh said: “The right to strike needs to be balanced against freedom of movement. It’s not only customers flying in and out of France who are affected.
“Passengers on routes that overfly France, especially the large airspace that covers Marseille and the Mediterranean, are also subject to delays and massive disruptions.
“This affects all airlines but has a significant negative impact on Spain’s tourism and economy.”
Walsh’s plea is countersigned by Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, easyJet chief executive Johan Lundgren and Wizz Air chief executive Jozsef Varadi.
Similar concerns have been raised by NET, the Network for the European Private Sector in Tourism.
According to NET, there have been 423 European ATC strike days since 2004, 70% in France. It says during the first half of 2018, there were 29 ATC strike days, 22 in France.
The airline coalition further states, citing European Commission figures, 357 ATC strikes in Europe since 2005, amounting to one a month per year over the past 13 years.
NET says it is supporting Airlines for Europe’s (A4E) efforts to minimise the impact of strikes on travellers and tourism.
Signatories include Pawel Niewiadomski, president of ECTAA, the group of national travel agents’ and tour operators’ associations within the EU, and Susanne Kraus-Winkler, president of HOTREC, the voice of the hospitality industry in Europe.
Thomas Reynaert, A4E managing director, said: “2018 is shaping up to be one of the worst years ever for ATC strikes in Europe. We stand together with Europe’s tourism industry in calling on authorities to take immediate action to improve the situation and reverse the trend.”
O’Leary added: “Europe’s ATC providers are reaching the point of meltdown with hundreds of flights being cancelled and delayed daily either because of ATC strikes or because Europe’s ATC don’t have enough staff.
“These disruptions are unacceptable, and we call on Europe’s governments and the European Commission to take urgent and decisive action to ensure ATC providers are fully staffed and overflights are not affected when national strikes take place, as they repeatedly do in France.”
