Paris, July 20: French air traffic controllers will stage a three-day strike to protest potential job cuts as concerns mount over the disruption and cancellation of flights.
According to France’s civil aviation authority, up to 20 percent of flights into Charles de Gaulle airport and 50 percent of flights into Orly airport are expected to be cancelled due to a walk-out by air traffic controllers beginning Tuesday evening and lasting until Thursday morning, AFP reported.
Frustrated over envisaged job cuts, the striking unions of air traffic controllers have also voiced their opposition to the “Single European Sky,” a plan designed to merge France’s air traffic control services with European services in a bid to improve both efficiency and safety.
The European Union, which unveiled the plan in 2009, estimates that better coordination of European air traffic could reduce an average of 8-14 minutes off flight times, while using 7-11 percent less fuel and emitting 10 percent less carbon dioxide.
But air traffic controllers believe the merge would generate more job cuts as both public and private sectors are grappling with reduction in wages as part of fiscal austerity measures introduced by the government of President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The strike across the country’s airports is expected to affect as much as fifty per cent of French air traffic during this week.
The move comes as a stormy weather forecast further has increased concerns over travel disruptions.
Air traffic strikes had previously hit France this year, as unions have announced plans for more walk-outs slated for September.
——-Agencies