France air traffic control strike spreads across EU

A passenger checks a board which shows departing flights at Roissy Charles de Gaulle international airport on June 11, 2013.

Nearly three-quarters of flights from France’s busiest airports were cancelled due to the ongoing strike, which came in protest at a European Commission (EC) proposal to create a single airspace for the continent."

A strike staged by French air traffic controllers is expanding across Europe with ten more countries bracing for similar industrial action.

Nearly three-quarters of flights from France’s busiest airports were cancelled due to the ongoing strike, which came in protest at a European Commission (EC) proposal to create a single airspace for the continent.

The French Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) said in a statement that about 1,800 flights were cancelled on Wednesday.

“Nearly 100 percent” of France's air traffic controllers were taking part in the strike, DGAC added.

The three-day strike, which was called by the European Transport Workers' Federation (ETF), started on Tuesday.

The DGAC asked airlines serving airports in Paris, Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, and Bordeaux to reduce flights by 50 percent starting early Tuesday, through late Thursday.

The EC is proposing to centralize the air traffic control, instead of having each European member state monitor its own airspace. The European body says that the change could cut costs, reduce delays, and triple the region’s airspace.

However, air controllers are saying that the plan will affect safety and working conditions, adding that the proposed changes are also in violation of national sovereignty of European nations.

According to the ETF, the strikes seek to “stop a never-ending process of liberalization, deregulation and cost-cutting in the Air Traffic Management industry.”

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the European Union’s Transportation Commissioner Siim Kallas told the European Parliament, “The time has come for more decisive action. If we leave things as they are, we will be confronted with heavy congestion and chaos in our airspace.”

Meanwhile, workers in a number of countries including Austria, Britain, Italy and Portugal staged walkouts, gatherings and minimum-work actions.

MR/KA/SS