Up to 35 Ryanair flights arriving to and departing from Dublin Airport are set to be cancelled on Bank Holiday Monday due to the latest France air traffic control strike.
On Saturday evening, Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary released a video statement saying his company will cancel 220 flights on Monday.
A Ryanair spokesperson was unable to provide an exact list of which flights will be affected across Europe.
However, air sector sources told RTÉ News at least 25 to 35 flights arriving to and departing from Dublin Airport will be affected.
Further cancellations are also likely in Cork and Belfast airports, with thousands of Irish passengers set to be impacted by the situation.
Michael O'Leary said the Europe-wide situation will affect a total of 40,000 passengers across the continent, and blamed both French officials and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for the disruption.
He said while he accepts the right of French workers to take strike action, he believes it is unreasonable for the issue to affect flights which are travelling through French airspace but are not landing in France.
"France is using minimum service legislation to protect its local French flights.
"But all the cancellations are then being disproportionately being passed on to English flights, Irish flights, Italian flights, Spanish flights, German flights. This is unfair," Mr O'Leary said.
"When there are air traffic control strikes in Italy, they protect overflights [the technical term for flights travelling through a country's air space without landing in that country].
"In Greece they protect overflights.
"France must be required by the EU commission to protect overflights.
"It is unfair that flights from the UK to Spain or from Italy to Portugal are being cancelled simply because a bunch of French air traffic control units want to go on strike.
"We respect their right to strike, but if they want to strike cancel the French flights, protect the overflights," Mr O'Leary said.
The planned French air traffic control strike action on Bank Holiday Monday will be the 51st day of strike action in recent months.
French workers have been holding regular strikes since early spring in protest at plans by French president Emmanuel Macron to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64.
Those travelling on flights which are travelling over French air space on Monday have been asked to contact their airline for latest information.
