Strikes ground flights, shut runways at Paris airport

STRIKES at Paris’ main airport on Thursday (Jun 9) led to a quarter of flights being grounded, runways closed and passengers delayed, exacerbating the recent chaos in Europe’s aviation sector.

Several European airports have struggled to cope with passenger flows due to staff shortages as the travel industry recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

Around 100 flights at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport were scrapped on Thursday morning after workers went on strike to demand higher wages.

A firefighters’ strike forced the closure of 2 of the airport’s 4 runways between 7 am and 2 pm (0500-1200 GMT) in accordance with safety procedures, airport operator ADP said.

Passengers experienced average delays of between 30 and 45 minutes. The hub’s main operator Air France said delays would affect some of its long-haul flights.

ADP said it expected the delays to last all day.

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Around 800 striking workers protested outside the airport demanding a pay rise of 300 euros (S$443) amid staff shortages and following years of job cuts caused by the pandemic.

“We’ve been under-staffed for 2 years, and the wages haven’t kept up,” said Oumar Aw, who works for an Air France sub-contractor.

ADP, whose staff took pay cuts to survive the coronavirus crisis, has said salary negotiations with the trade unions will take place from Jun 14. AFP