As schools across France break up for the summer holidays today (4 July 2025), families looking forward to their long-awaited vacations face an unexpected obstacle: a two-day strike by French air traffic controllers (ATC) that has grounded over 1,500 flights and disrupted travel for over 300,000 passengers, according to Airlines for Europe (A4E).
A4E said it “strongly condemns” the strike which affects much of western Europe, and comes during one of the busiest periods – the start of the school holidays, known locally as the Grand Départ. (The MD called the strike “intolerable”.)
“As well as being responsible for thousands of cancellations, today’s strike is responsible for nearly 500,000 minutes of delay or the same amount of minutes in 365 days or one full year,” A4E said in a press release.
“Airlines have had little notice of the impact of these strikes, resulting in hundreds of last-minute cancellations,” they added, revealing that French ATC has some of Europe’s worst delay records in 2025, with delays jumping 115% in June 2025 compared to a year ago.
An Australian tourist holidaying on the French Riviera told Riviera Edition she was only informed by EasyJet this morning that her flight from Nice Airport to Olbia in Sardinia had been cancelled. It was just three hours before her flight was due to take off.
According to DW, flights to and from Nice (France’s third-largest airport) were already experiencing significant delays on Thursday morning. By today half of all flights were reportedly cancelled at the Nice Côte d’Azur Airport, a key gateway to the Riviera.
The strike has been launched by two unions who are protesting against staff shortages and “toxic management”. The unions say that staff shortages, as well as outdated equipment, lead to unsafe working conditions.
While many passengers expressed empathy for the striking French air traffic controllers, some admit it couldn’t have hit at a worse time, just as children are leaving classrooms and parents are eager to start their summer getaways.
France’s transport minister has condemned the timing of the strike and called the union’s demands “unacceptable”. For airlines like Ryanair and EasyJet, the strikes also mean heavy financial losses.
What happens if your flight is cancelled due to French air traffic controller strikes?
EasyJet told the Australian tourist she has three options:
- get a full refund,
- transfer to another EasyJet flight for free (although they’re fully booked for the next four days at least), or
- book with another airline and receive a refund for the difference if it’s a “reasonable” cost. (The assistant couldn’t give any indication of what that amount could be.)
After frantically scouring the internet Philippa gave up. The only alternative flight option was at a cost of over 900 euros from Bordeaux which is a 9 or 10-hour train trip from Antibes. Instead she will travel six hours to Genoa in Italy, by train, and then catch an overnight ferry to Olbia.
She’s one of the lucky ones. Many families say they have to cancel their holidays because there are no alternate flights available, at least not affordable when you’re re-booking for an entire family; and delaying their holiday is not possible as one or both parents have to get back to work.
The good news is that being stranded on the French Riviera is not the worst place to find yourself, and we’ve got a fantastic article listing all the best things to do on the French Riviera with children of all ages.
