An air traffic control strike disrupted holiday departures across France today with one in ten flights cancelled from the main international airport in Paris, Charles de Gaulle.
Half of all flights were also cancelled from the city’s second biggest airport, Orly, the civil aviation authority DGAC said.
The Dublin Airport Authority website reported various flight disruptions to and from France.
Aer Lingus, Air France and Ryanair flights to and from Paris, Nice, Carcassonne, Biarritz and Marseille were all cancelled today.
DGAC said most French airports were disrupted due to the strike, as 30% of air traffic controllers joined the action.
Storms forecast later in the day were likely to add to the disruption.
The strike was scheduled to last until 6am Thursday morning.
Unions representing air traffic controllers called the strike to protest against plans to merge France's 4,000 controllers and 8,000 other DGAC personnel into a European-wide system.
However, one of the biggest trade union confederations, the CFDT, condemned the strike as an unnecessary hassle for holidaymakers.
It is the third major airport strike in France this year against the European plan.
Currently the EU's air space is a patchwork of 27 air traffic control systems, subdivided into 250 sectors.
As a pilot enters a new sector he must change radio wave frequency and contact the next air traffic control team.
The EU's 2009 single sky legislation calls for Functional Airspace Blocks to be in place by 2012, creating boundary-free airspace to improve efficiency and safety.
France would become part of a bloc with Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland.
The French government said it would sign up in December to the new system, which aims to reduce flight times and help protect the environment, and make it easier to manage crises such as that caused by volcanic ash in April.
For updated flight information check out the DAA website.
