The low-cost carrier pulled the flights and promptly issued another plea to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to protect passengers’ rights when such industrial action occurs. 

Affected passengers have been notified and advised of their options to either move to another flight or to receive a full refund. 

In its latest call to the European Union, Ryanair again highlighted how thousands of EU overflights have been cancelled over the past 18 months. 

The airline called on von der Leyen to protect services overflying France by allowing other countries’ ATC staff to manage them while French workers are on strike. 

It also urged the commission to mandate that French ATC unions engage in binding arbitration before walking out.

The requests come as part of a petition launched by Ryanair in March 2023, which has now gathered more than 2.1 million signatures.

“It is inexplicable that Ursula von der Leyen and the EU commission have failed to take action to protect EU passengers’ freedom of movement during these repeated French ATC strikes,” an airline spokesperson said.

“There is no excuse for EU passengers to bear the burden of national ATC strikes that are completely unrelated to them and it’s time that Ursula von der Leyen and the EU commission do something about it.”