French air strike hits travel schedules

A strike by French air traffic controllers will force the cancellation of large numbers of flights in and out of France today, airlines said.

Short and medium-haul flights around Europe will be principally affected. British Airways said it had cancelled at least 64 flights scheduled to take off between today and tomorrow morning when the strike ends. The company warned of major travel disruption between Britain and France.

The strikes were part of a wider protest by French public employees, including train conductors, hospital staff and transport workers. However, only the air traffic strike was expected to cause serious disturbance.

Air France said most of its long-haul flights - to destinations such as the United States, Asia and Africa - would be unaffected by the 32-hour strike by air traffic controllers. But the airline, "like all other carriers, sees itself obliged to cancel a large number of short and medium-haul flights" within Europe today, Air France said in a statement.

Germany's Lufthansa was canceling a total of 70 flights between yesterday evening and tomorrow, company spokesman Thomas Jachnow said.

The strike call has also forced Polish airline LOT to call off flights today and one flight on Wednesday morning, while Scandinavian Airlines will drop 27 flights in France today.

Meanwhile, three out of four flights from Athens to Paris today have been cancelled. Olympic Airways was due to keep one flight and cancel another, while Air France has cancelled both.

While some airlines had forecast that flights would be affected last night, a spokesman for France's airport authority said there had been few, if any cancellations. But the strike was expected to begin in earnest this morning.

"We don't have any forecasts about the percentage of strikers," airport authority spokesman Didier Hamon said. "Our advice to travelers is that they should call the airlines."

An Air France spokeswoman said that despite the reduced number of air traffic controllers expected to work, flights would still be safe. "There will be controllers controlling the skies," said a spokeswoman, who asked not to be named. "The quality and security of flights is absolutely not a problem."

The powerful Communist party-aligned CGT union was helping to organise the strike. Public employees in France - including train conductors, Air France staff and employees of the post office and the national, electric and telephone companies - were expected to march in Paris today.

CGT said the strikers were calling for improved pensions and pay and protesting at government plans to privatise state companies and services.