Air traffic strike forces culling of flights across Europe

By STEPHEN CASTLE and JOHN LICHFIELD

PARIS/BRUSSELS - Airports stood empty and thousands of passengers spent yesterday seeking alternative transport as a strike by air traffic controllers wreaked havoc across the continent.

The protest, centred on France, engulfed other countries including Italy, Greece and Hungary, and played havoc with short-haul flights, many of which were cancelled or diverted out of French airspace.

As the strike began to bite, Edith Tartry, spokeswoman for French air regulator DGAC, confirmed that the industrial action had been "massively supported". French unions said that the stoppage was observed by all members.

The controllers' strike was instigated in France and caused most disruption on routes through French airspace. Almost all French domestic flights were cancelled, along with most European flights to and from France and many flights passing over French territory.

Air traffic controllers are protesting against European Union plans to replace national systems with a "single European sky" which, the European Commission says, would rationalise airspace, prevent delays and save airlines money.

But the unions believe the measure is a prelude to backdoor privatisation - a claim denied by the European Commission.

The French unions complain that the EU's proposals - intended to create more space for commercial flights - is a "drift to ultra-liberalism" and the beginnings of a "market-driven sky" that would reduce safety standards.

The unions are threatening disruption throughout the summer, and yesterday's chaos may just be a taste of strike action to come.

British Airways, which relies heavily on French airspace for European connections, cancelled all but four of its 126 French flights, and 38 other services to Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.

"It's affecting thousands of people. Even if your flight is not cancelled, you might be affected by delays," said a spokeswoman.

Of the 660 flights scheduled at Orly airport, Paris, only 77 operated.

At Charles de Gaulle airport, 250 of 1500 flights survived, mostly those to long-distance destinations.

Other long-haul flights left early, to beat the beginning of the strike at 6.30am French time. Many passengers complained that they were not told of the change.

French air traffic controllers stopped work for 16 hours - longer than elsewhere.

Flights that did operate were controlled by non-union officials and a small number of union members ordered to work by the French Government for safety reasons.

In Italy about 50 Alitalia flights were cancelled, and Frankfurt airport, Europe's second-busiest, cancelled 64 flights, mainly to and from the strike-hit countries.

In Spain, 60 Iberia flights to or from France were cancelled, together with 57 domestic flights, and most airports in Portugal were at a standstill.

Services in Greece and the Netherlands were also badly hit.

Juergen Weber, chief executive of German carrier Lufthansa, said it was "downright absurd that in this situation a European association of air traffic controllers calls a strike in order to protest against open European skies and comes out in favour of the maintenance of fragmented structures".

- INDEPENDENT