Flight to and from Dublin Airport have been cancelled

Flights between Dublin Airport and several European cities have been cancelled due to a French air traffic control strike.

A total of 16 flights have been grounded between Dublin and the French cities of Paris, Biarritz and Nice, as well as Murcia in Spain on Thursday.

No flights departing or arriving to Belfast City Airport have been affected so far, the airport has confirmed.

Dublin airport has advised passengers flying to or over mainland Europe to check with their airline for updates on the status of their flight.

Two French unions are staging the two-day strike over working conditions.

Ryanair has said it has cancelled 170 flights due to the strike action across Thursday and Friday, disrupting more than 30,000 passengers.

The Irish airline has said the disruption will mostly affect flights over French airspace en route to their destination, including those from Spain to Ireland and the UK to Greece, alongside flights to and from France.

Daa spokesperson Graeme McQueen said the flights included eight departures and eight arrivals.

“As it stands, no cancellations have been confirmed for flights in and out of Cork Airport today,” he said.

EasyJet has confirmed no flights to or from Northern Ireland have been impacted by the strikes. The airline does not operate in the Republic of Ireland.

The disruption comes at the start of the European summer holiday season – one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

France’s civil aviation authority, DGAC, has asked airlines to reduce flight schedules at several airports across the country.

Ryanair has criticised France for not protecting aircrafts flying over French airspace when national air traffic control strikes are taking place.

The airline has called on the head of European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to take “urgent action”, requesting air traffic control services to be “fully staffed” for the first wave of daily departures and for flights going through French airspace to be protected during national strikes.

Chief executive of the airline Michael O’Leary said the disruption is “abundantly unfair” on passengers and families booked to go on holiday.

“Once again European families are held to ransom by French Air Traffic Controllers going on strike. It is not acceptable that overflights over French airspace en route to their destination are being cancelled/delayed as a result of yet another French ATC strike”, he added.