Travel expert Simon Calder has warned British tourists that strike action has across Europe and in the UK could cause chaos for those who are to the continent.
Calder said the “biggest worry” is that air traffic controllers have taken strike action in France over Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform.
Calder said there are strike in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy which will affect easyJet and Ryanair and “there will be delays and some disruption due to the industrial action.”
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine Calder said, “We’ve just seen the Italian air traffic controllers going on strike, there are easyJet workers in Portugal who are striking.
“Crucially and this is my biggest worry, French air traffic controllers have been going on strike for weeks because of their protests against President Macron’s plans to raise the pension age.
“Because France is on the way to all our favourites, to Italy, to Portugal, to Spain, to North Africa, unfortunately, that is having a heck of an impact and we are seeing delays already today.”
easyJet posted a warning on their website, “We have been advised of National Strikes in France in March.
“Air traffic control staff are joining the strike action and therefore like all airlines, our flights to and from French airports, as well as those flying in French airspace, could be affected.
“We expect that there will be delays and some disruption due to the industrial action, therefore we advise all customers to check the status of their flight on our flight tracker either on our mobile app or website.
“Please also be aware that public transport services may be affected by the strike. We recommend all customers allow plenty of extra time to get to the airport and consider alternative transport options where possible.
“Although this situation is outside of our control, we would like to apologise to any affected passengers for the inconvenience caused.”
CEO of Ryanair Michael O’Leary said, “We are all collectively facing daily cancellations of flights that aren’t even operating to and from France, while the French protect their domestic flights.”
In the UK there will also be “strikes at Heathrow this Easter” and British Airways have warned flights could be impacted as security workers are on strike at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.
Calder said, “British Airways is cancelling dozens of flights every day, but you should have been told in good time.”
Simon Hagger, deputy CEO at Holiday Extras said, “So while there are strikes at Heathrow this Easter, and probably strikes ongoing in France, so far strikes have had far less impact on travel than everyone has thought.
“It looks increasingly likely that worrying about strikes is more of a risk to everyone’s much-needed time away than the strikes themselves, and our recommendation is that with a bit of preparation and planning people should still be able to enjoy their much-needed time off.”
