272 flight controllers from 1000 who were supposed to work was participating in the strike, said the CNews Minister.
“It must be clear that yesterday and today 272 people in our country will have an impact on the benefit of more than half a million people,” he said. “It’s not acceptable,” he added.
Domestic and international air traffic was affected.
The European Lobby Airlines for Europe (A4E) condemned a strike. The Executive Director of the Organia Georgoutsako said that the strike would unnecessarily disrupt the annual vacations of thousands of people in France and Europe.
A set of three-year agreement was reached only a year ago, and the main request of the strikers refers to the blockade of measures agreed in order to increase air traffic safety. These measures include controller presence checks in control towers.
The DGAC Civil Aviation Agency told to cancel 40 percent flights in three main airports on Friday due to the strike, for which flight controllers say it is caused by the lack of staff and outdated equipment. Almost half of the flights were affected in other French airports, mostly in the south, adds DGAC.
French flight controllers have accumulated the most days on strike in the last 20 years – more than 300, far more than Greece (50 days) and Italy (40 days). They are responsible for a third of the delays of flights in the European airspace, the Hina reports.
(Vijesti.ba)
