Geoffrey Branger, edited by Laura Laplaud, with AFP 1:35 p.m., June 30, 2022, modified at 1:36 p.m., June 30, 2022

10% of flights departing from or arriving at Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) will be canceled on Thursday due to a social movement by firefighters.

This strike by firefighters comes before a multisectoral and interprofessional movement at the airport, scheduled from Friday to Sunday to demand wage increases.

As a result of this strike, which affects the firefighters of France's largest airport against the backdrop of wage negotiations and which could extend to other categories of employees, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) "has asked the airlines to preventively cancel part of the flight program. We will thus be able to ensure more than 90% of the flights on the day", indicated the ADP Group (Aéroports de Paris) to AFP.

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More specifically, the DGAC has ordered carriers to cancel 17% of their flights between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., a spokesperson for the administration told AFP, for questions of security of airport operations.

"We invite passengers to check the news of their flight with their company and to anticipate their arrival at the airport: three hours for an international flight, two hours for a domestic or European flight," said ADP.

From the same source, "Groupe ADP is in permanent contact with the various operational players of Paris-CDG, airlines and air navigation, to limit the impact of these strikes" and inform passengers.

62 canceled flights

For its part, Air France, one of the main user companies of Paris-Charles de Gaulle, indicates that it has been forced to cancel more than 10% of its short and medium-haul flights taking off or landing from CDG, i.e. 62 flight movements. planes.

Long-haul flights will not be affected.

"Our flight schedule is up to date" and affected travelers have been informed, said a spokesperson, even if "last minute delays and cancellations are (...) not to be excluded".

This strike by firefighters comes before a multisectoral and interprofessional movement at the airport, scheduled from Friday to Sunday to demand wage increases.

“We are still awaiting confirmation of the number of strikers and its potential impact on air traffic,” the manager said on Wednesday evening.

Air France says "regret this social movement"

"For the following days, Air France will adapt its program if necessary", added the company, which "regrets this social movement which occurs at a time when air transport as a whole is barely recovering from an unprecedented crisis", due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

On June 9, ADP announced the cancellation of a quarter of flights at CDG, already due to a staff strike demanding wage increases. 

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At some European airports, the lack of staff has already led to huge chaos, such as at Amsterdam-Schiphol or Frankfurt, where flights have had to be canceled in recent weeks due to shortages of ground staff.