BY/ Hana Saada
ALGIERS- In a press release published this Saturday, Air Algérie informed its customers of a risk of disruption, or even cancellation, of some of its flights to and from France. The cause: a public service strike announced for May 1 and 2.
“Following the public service strike movement scheduled for May 1 and 2, 2023, flights scheduled for these days to and from France will be disrupted or even cancelled,” the statement said.
Up to 33% of flights cancelled as French air traffic controllers call May Day strike
France’s civil aviation authority has instructed airports to cancel flights on May 1st, with flight schedules at some airports reduced by at least a third, as air traffic controllers plan strike action.
The next ‘day of action’ in the long-running French pension protests will be Monday, May 1st, but most unions are not calling for strikes – and are instead trying to get as many people on the streets as possible in marches and demos.
However, air traffic controllers have been taking part in rolling strikes, and the Direction générale de l’aviation civile (DGAC) has warned that this will result in disruption from the evening of Sunday, April 30th to 6am on Tuesday, May 2nd.
In a statement, the DGAC said it had asked airlines running flights in and out of Paris-Orly, Marseille-Provence, Lyon, Bordeaux, Nantes, and Toulouse airports to reduce their flight schedules on May 1st by 33 percent.
Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Nice and Beauvais airports will cancel 25 percent of flights.
#Perturbations | Mouvement social national interprofessionnel du 1er mai 2023. pic.twitter.com/w44eeoF6fF
— Direction générale de l’aviation civile 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@DGAC) April 26, 2023
It’s also possible that disruptions could hit ‘overflights’ – those flights that pass over French airspace during their journey.
