France and London hit by 24-hour strikes
Air and rail travel to, from and within France is being hit today by a 24-hour national strike.
British Airways urged passengers to check the status of their flights before leaving for the airport.
It said the strikes are likely to cause delays and disruption to some of its flights into and out of France and possibly other European destinations.
France’s Civil Aviation Authority has asked airlines to cancel a quarter of their flights at Paris’ airports.
Air France said it plans to operate all long-haul flights, but only 90% of short and medium-haul flights at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, and 50% of short and medium-haul flights at Paris-Orly.
Only two out of every five of France’s high-speed trains are scheduled to run.
Eurostar said its services to and from France would continue to operate normally, but acknowledged that passengers might not be able to connect to or from other train services within France.
In this case, they are being given the option to postpone their journeys.
Eurostar tickets can be exchanged up to 60 days after the initial date of travel for a journey in the next 120 days.
French workers are protesting against government plans to increase the retirement age and raise employee contributions.
In London, underground rail services have also been hit by strike action today.
The first in a series of 24-hour strikes over job cuts by London Underground workers has left millions of passengers facing severe disruption.
Transport for London said almost 40% of its trains were running, with only the Circle Line completely suspended.
Meanwhile, Britain is bracing itself for more strike disruption as the BA cabin crew dispute rumbles on.
After a mass meeting of cabin crew yesterday, their union, Unite, said a new strike ballot was looking “inevitableâ€.
The warning has led to renewed fears of a Christmas walk-out.
However, when Unite members were due to strike for 12 days last Christmas, the action had to be called off after BA won a high court challenge over the validity of the ballot.
By Bev Fearis
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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