21/11/2023
Aviation chaos continues as French air-traffic controllers strike again
Following the cancellation of over 60 flights at London Heathrow on Sunday, some of the 10,000 affected passengers are now confronted with additional challenges.
The disruption stems from a strike led by French air-traffic control personnel, resulting in numerous cancellations for flights to and from the UK, impacting overflights to destinations like Spain and Switzerland.
This Sunday, a confluence of factors, including "staff absence" at Heathrow's air-traffic control tower and strong winds, led to widespread cancellations, significant delays, and the rerouting of two transatlantic inbound flights.
The disturbance at Heathrow persisted into the early hours, with flights still taking off and landing after midnight, a time when operations typically conclude by 11:30 pm.
Adding to the complications, a British Airways flight bound for Lisbon experienced an additional delay when a catering truck collided with the aircraft. Engineering personnel and firefighters promptly responded, managing the situation. Despite the setback, the flight eventually departed nearly three hours behind schedule and safely touched down in the Portuguese capital shortly before 1 am.
The repercussions of the latest French air-traffic control (ATC) strike initiated with the early morning departures on Monday, causing a cascade of cancellations. British Airways took the hit with over 20 grounded flights from Heathrow to destinations in France, Switzerland, and Spain, while Iberia also cancelled a round trip between Madrid and London.
Among the casualties, easyJet, the largest budget airline in the UK, had to ground at least 10 flights connecting various UK airports to Paris, including routes from Luton, Bristol, and Manchester.
Interestingly, scrutinising online data for Charles de Gaulle airport reveals that easyJet faced a more significant impact than Air France, despite the latter's hub being in the French capital. Air France seems to have cancelled only four domestic round trips with no reported cancellations for international flights.
Ryanair passengers are not spared either, with the major low-cost carrier grounding at least 10 flights to and from France at London Stansted, coupled with additional cancellations at Manchester and Belfast International.
As the day progresses, delays are anticipated to accumulate swiftly as pilots await clearance to fly to or over France. Notably, some "first wave" flights from London Gatwick to Spain operated by Wizz Air, Vueling, British Airways, and easyJet experienced departure delays of over an hour.
