A thousand flights cancelled over Friday's French air traffic control strike, Air Malta flights delayed

One thousand flights have been cancelled ahead of a French air traffic control strike on Friday.

Air Malta did not cancel any flights but trips from Paris and to and from Lyon have been delayed. The French flights of the national carrier will operate as follows:

• KM 478 Malta - Paris Charles de Gaulle operated as scheduled and has already landed
• KM 479 Paris Charles de Gaulle - Malta will now depart at 6:00am on 17 September
• KM 466 Malta - Paris Orly will operate as scheduled
• KM 467 Paris Orly - Malta will depart at 6:00am on the 17 September
• KM 454 Malta - Lyon will depart at 2:30am on the 17 September
• KM 455 Lyon - Malta will depart at 6:00am on the 17 September

The industrial action will run from 6am on Friday 16 September till 6am on Saturday 17 September, and it could also disrupt flights that pass over the French airspace.

During the pre-budget document presentation conference on Friday morning, Tony Zahra the President of the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA) described the strike as "a 12-volt shock to the tourism sector".

The country’s main traffic controllers’ union - French Syndicat National des Contrôleurs du Trafic Aérien (SNCTA) union, called the strike over pay and working conditions.

It said that inflation was eroding workers’ wages and it called for wage increases and for an increase in human resources.

Workers have been also instructed to walk off the job from Wednesday 28 September to Friday 30 September.

Air France had no option but to cancel 55% of its its short and medium-haul flights and 10% of its long-haul flights on Friday. Ryanair cancelled 420 flights, which affected 80,000 passengers.

"It is inexcusable that passengers who are not even flying to or from France are disrupted," said Neal McMahon, Ryanair operations director.

McMahon called on the EU to introduce legislation to protect overflights - flights that travel through a country's airspace - from short notice cancellation.