The strike is expected to cause the cancellation of hundreds of services across the continent and severe delays for many other journeys.
The dispute could see around a third of flights axed at French airports with staff at control centres in Brest and Bordeaux walking out until Friday (March 10) and controllers stationed in
the city of Aix-en-Provence striking between Tuesday and Thursday.
The industrial action by ATC staff has been called in a dispute over working hours and conditions with workers believing their German counterparts are paid more for less strenuous work schedules, the Independent reports.
Flights serving the main Paris airports – Charles de Gaulle and Orly – will be affected, with services entering and departing Toulouse, Nantes, Nice and Marseilles also impacted.
The French Civil Aviation Authority, the DGAC, has called on carriers to reduce their flight schedule in the west and south-west of the country – affected services between the UK and the Iberian Peninsula.
In response, British Airways has cancelled a number of flights to Paris, Nice, Marseilles, Lyons and Madrid today (March 6), while easyJet has also axed services.
BA said it would be using larger aircraft, where possible, to help “reduce the levels of disruption”.
"Unfortunately in addition to cancelling some flights to and from France, other short-haul flights may also experience some disruption, given how many flights would normally use French airspace,” it said on its website.
“We are still assessing which services may be affected on each day of industrial action, but we recognise the uncertainty the situation is causing and have introduced a more flexible
rebooking policy.
EasyJet said: “We are working to minimise the impact of the strike, but like other airlines flying to and from France there will be cancellations and potential delays.
“There is expected strike action for the rest of the week, once we have confirmation we will update you if your flight is affected.”
Ryanair has urged the French government and European Commission to take “immediate action” to prevent the industrial action impacting services.
The low-cost carrier said it had so far been forced to cancel 45 flights today with further cancellations expected.
The airline has also asked its customers to sign the Airlines For Europe (A4E) “Keep Europe’s Skies Open” petition, which it will present to the European Commission when it accrues one million signatures.
Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “All affected customers have been contacted and informed of their options and we advise all customers travelling on Monday to check the status of their flight on the Ryanair.com website before leaving for their airport.
“We call on the French government and European Commission to take immediate action to prevent thousands of European consumers from having their travel plans disrupted by a tiny group of ATC unions going on strike.
“They cannot stand idly by and allow another summer of disruption and travel misery for European consumers to take place.”
Managing director of A4E Thomas Reynaert said: “Already during the first weeks of 2017 European travellers become victims of yet another ATC strike – unbelievably, not only for a day but for a whole week. A4E urges the Commission to protect the rights of European travellers and work together with Member States, Air Navigation Service Providers, unions and other stakeholders to minimise the impact on passengers.”
“We cannot allow a small group of Europe’s 15,000 air traffic controllers restricting the rights of millions of European travellers. Following our call for action last year we have seen a positive reaction by some unions. It is now the right moment to build on that and minimise the impact of strike actions without questioning the individual right of workers to take industrial action."
