Paris (AFP)

The British airline EasyJet announced Wednesday the cancellation of part of its French program on Thursday, 233 domestic and medium-haul flights, because of the strike against the pension reform planned in France.

"233 flights have been canceled, of which 70 are in the United Kingdom," the company said in a written statement to AFP, without specifying the proportion of its flights affected. It only indicates that it initially planned 1,189 flights on its entire network, ie in Europe.

EasyJet is the second largest airline in France after Air France and France is its second largest market.

Canceled flights are those that concern French airports or use French airspace.

The low-cost airline expects "other flights to be delayed" and advises customers to inquire. "Due to increased call center demands, we advise customers traveling during the strike period to check the status of their flights on our Flight Tracker page or to manage their reservations through our mobile app. and / or our website www.easyjet.com, "she says.

Customers affected by cancellations must receive an SMS or email.

His competitor Ryanair also announced Wednesday, by press release, to be "forced to cancel a number of flights" Thursday because of the strike in France. Asked by AFP, the Irish company did not want to specify the number of flights removed.

Air France warned Tuesday that it would cancel 30% of its domestic flights and 15% of its medium-haul flights as part of the cross-industry strike against the pension reform, while the long-haul would not affected. The low-cost Transavia, also in the fold of the group Air France-KLM, announced that its flight schedule for Thursday was maintained.

Airlines react to the reduction of French air traffic capacity. The USAC-CGT, the second union among air traffic controllers and the first in the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC) all staff, calls for a strike against the pension reform until Saturday.

At Air France, eleven unions invited employees to participate in protests against pension reform on Thursday, some of whom, particularly in ground staff, are also calling for a strike. EasyJet claims that it has not received any strike notice from its pilots.

© 2019 AFP