Flights cancelled as air traffic controllers walk out
Passengers flying to Italy and Portugal today face delays and flight cancellations due to air traffic control strikes in Europe.
Flights to Milan, Rome, Venice and Lisbon have been particularly badly affected, with many services cancelled. British Airways, Alitalia and Ryanair flights are among those worst affected.
EasyJet said that it was expecting the strikes to have a significant impact on its flights but it said it had re-scheduled some flights to avoid making any cancellations.
Italian air traffic controllers are on strike from 13:00 until 17:00 local time; Portugues controller are on strike from 07:00 to 09:00 and from 14:00 to 16:00 local time.
Easyjet said it had re-timed some flights into and out of Lisbon and Milan Malpensa in order to avoid the strike periods, but it said flights might be affected due to a knock-on effect of the industrial action.
Ryanair said it had cancelled some flights, including flights from Gatwick to Cagliari and Stansted to Bari, and warned other services might be delayed due to the knock on effect.
Passengers face further disruption later today and tomorrow when French air traffic controllers join the industrial action. They are due to walk out late this evening and won’t return to work until the early hours of Friday.
EasyJet said all airlines operating to and from Paris airports have been requested to reduce flights by 20%, which had prompted the airline to cancel a small number of services.
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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