Ryanair grounded 650 flights in April due to strike chaos despite petition to ‘keep skies open’
Ryanair has said over 650 flights were cancelled due to the French Air Traffic Controller strikes in April, meaning almost 120,000 passengers couldn’t fly.
Flight traffic grew by 13 per cent year on year to 16mn guests overall, with the firm operating a total of 89,650 flights in April.
The low-cost carrier saw load factor increase by three percentage points from April last year, rising to 94 per cent.
However, the firm acknowledged that last year’s data was skewed by the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which hit traffic and load factors.
Since the first four months of 2023, there have been over 50 days of French ATC strikes, resulting in more than 3,700 cancellations. According to Ryanair, this has affected 660,000 passengers.
The most recent round of strikes took place this Monday, resulting in Ryanair cancelling 220 flights. The strikes also create further delays as pilots are forced to lengthen their routes to avoid French airspace.
Ryanair has been one of the worst affected by the ATC action and recently published a petition, calling on the EU Commission to take action to “keep skies open” when the action takes place.