easyJet hit by ‘unexpected and significant costs’ from French air-traffic control strike

The boss of easyJet says striking French air-traffic controllers caused “unacceptable challenges” for passengers and crew – and landed airlines with “unexpected and significant costs”.

Kenton Jarvis, chief executive of Britain's biggest budget airline, said: “We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French ATC [air-traffic control] in early July.”

He is adding to pressure from other carriers, notably Ryanair, for the European Union to tackle the chaos caused to “overflights” when a country’s controllers walk out.

One in five of all flights in Europe is normally routed over France without either taking off or landing there. For easyJet, the proportion is closer to half.

Dozens of easyJet flights between the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and Portugal were cancelled during the two-day strike by French air-traffic controllers on 3 and 4 June.

Nearly 3,000 flights were cancelled and more than 7,400 delayed during the walkout. Eurocontrol, the pan-European aviation coordinator, puts the cost to the aviation industry at €120m (£104m) in lost revenue and expenditure on care for passengers.

Jade Kirwan, director of communications for Ryanair, told The Independent’s daily travel podcast: “People who had absolutely nothing to do with the French strike, absolutely nothing to do with their call on the French government, were affected by these ATC delays and cancellations. And quite frankly, we just think it's unacceptable.”

The easyJet CEO was commenting on easyJet’s third-quarter results. These cover April, May and June – ie before the latest strike.

The airline continues steady growth, with 92 per cent of seats filled in June. Profitability increased by £50m year-on-year, partly due to the late Easter – which boosted April bookings.

Mr Jarvis said: “We performed well in the quarter, increasing profits alongside improving operational performance which has boosted easyJet’s customer satisfaction scores and we continued to see strong demand from our customers.”

EasyJet was the most-affected airline following the closure of Southend airport due to an air ambulance crash on Sunday. Some flights were operated to and from London Gatwick instead. The Essex airport reopened for full operations on Thursday.