Air passengers have been warned of potential disruption after French air traffic controllers started strike action today (6 June).

The French Civil Aviation Authority has asked all airlines to reduce flights to and from some airports in France and easyJet has confirmed it has cancelled 10 flights to and from the UK.

Passengers have been warned of delays and last-minute cancellations because of the strike action, which is due to finish at 6am on Wednesday (7 June).

Air France confirmed it would operate long-haul flights, all routes to and from Charles de Gaulle and almost 70% of flights to and from Paris Orly.

However, the airline added: “Delays and last-minute cancellations cannot be ruled out.

“The flight schedule is up to date and customers affected by cancelled flights have been notified individually by SMS, e-mail or via the Air France application.

“Air France regrets this strike action and is doing everything possible to limit the impact on its customers.”

EasyJet said: “Due to national strike action in France impacting transport services including air traffic control on 6 June, airlines have been requested by the French authorities (DGAC) to make some cancellations to their flying programmes which means 10 flights between the UK and France today will no longer be able to operate. Impacted customers are being notified in advance and offered the option to change their flight for free or receive a refund. 

“We advise all customers travelling on 6 June to check the status of their flights on our Flight Tracker on our mobile app or website at www.easyjet.com/en/flight-tracker for live updates.

As national and local rail services may also be affected, we recommend passengers plan their journey in advance and to allow extra time for their journey to and from the airport.

“While this is outside of our control, we would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience they may experience as a result of the strike action.”

The walk-out is over the French Government’s pension reforms.

Advantage Travel Partnership CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said said the ongoing French ATC strikes were ‘an issue for many international airlines’.

“We very much hope that the issues with French ATC do not impact those travelling and our advice to those planning to travel over these strike days is to speak with their travel agent or check their flight status online before travelling to the airport,” she said.

Last week, Ryanair delivered its ‘Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open’ petition to the EU Commission.

The petition collected more than 1.1 million signatures from passengers demanding that the EU Commission protect overflights.

The budget carrier was forced to cancel more than 650 flights in April due to French ATC strikes, affecting around 118,000 passengers.