Europe: Air traffic controllers strike

30 January 2014

Several airlines have adjusted their re-booking options for travellers as air traffic controller strikes in Europe continue to cause havoc with airline schedules today (January 30).
Travellers on Air France/KLM or Delta can opt to change their travel dates free of charge provided that seats are available in the same cabin class as stated in the original ticket. Alternatively, passengers are entitled to a full refund of their ticket if their flight is on Thursday, 30 January to, from or via CDG (Paris Charles de Gaulle) or ORY (Paris Orly), and was cancelled by Air France/KLM or Delta Air Lines, or delayed for more than three hours. All changes or refunds must be done at the latest on Monday, February 3.
Lufthansa advises passengers to check the status of their flight before they travel to the airport. Lufthansa said in a statement it would notify its passenger by SMS of alternative flight option. All affected passengers can refund or rebook their flights free of charge.
Europe’s low cost carriers predict the strike action will cause significant flight delays and possible further cancellations tomorrow. Ryanair has announced that customers booked to travel on a flight that has been cancelled can transfer free of charge to the next available Ryanair flight or apply for a refund of their unused flights.
According to easyJet, all airlines operating to and from Paris airports have been requested to reduce their flying programmes by 20%. The airline said in a statement: “We have therefore had to cancel a small number of services from both Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly airports. All passengers due to travel on cancelled flights will be advised via e-mail and details of these cancellations can be found on our Flight Tracker webpage.” Easyjet is also offering to rebook or refund travellers affected by the strike.
The European trade unions of the following countries have announced that the air traffic control will be on strike during the following times:
Italy 
January 30: between 15.00h and 15.15h
France 
From January 29, 19h00 to January 31, 06h00
Portugal 
January 30: between 13h00 and 15h00
Slovakia 
January 30: between 09h00h and 11h00
Czech Republic 
January 30: between 07h00 and 19h00
Hungary 
January 30: between 09h00 and 11h00
Austria 
January 30: between 09h00 and 11h00
Greece 
January 30: between 11h00 and 14h00