In France on Saturday, Ryanair canceled 36 of its 80 flights. The Charleroi airport in Belgium was the hardest hit, with 44 flights canceled.

The strike by flight attendants on Ryanair has disrupted the first departures of the European summer on Saturday, forcing dozens of flights to be canceled, especially from Belgium, France, Spain, the union and airport sources.

At Ryanair, several unions of air hostesses and stewards were asked to suspend work in Spain, Portugal and Belgium for several days from Friday. The strike began on Saturday in Italy and France.

In France on Saturday, Ryanair canceled 36 of the 80 flights it normally operates with French officials, SNPNC union spokesman Damien Morgas told AFP, calling for the company’s 300 hosts and managers to move to France.

On Sunday, a Bordeaux-Marignac airport spokesman said nine flights departing from or arriving in Bordeaux had been canceled. In Marseille, a spokesman for the Marseille Provence airport said 12 flights should be canceled.

“When they saw the strike approaching the gates, they started watering the plane. Europe. Previously, we had to bring our own water on board, ”said Damien Morgas, who was reminded that the first requirement was“ salary and working conditions ”.

44 return flights were canceled

In France, it’s Marseille airport – where Ryanair has five planes – that suffered the most on Saturday with about 15 canceled flights or “25% of the airport’s daily Ryanair program.” It evokes a “limited impact”. In Bordeaux (based on 3 flights), 14 of the 26 flights scheduled for Saturday were canceled and two of Ryanair’s two flights in Beauvois were canceled.

According to the Ryanair Scorebuddy site, which lists all flight cancellations by the Ireland-based low-cost company, Charleroi Airport in Belgium was the worst hit, with 44 return flights canceled on Saturday.

The company did not respond to AFP’s requests. In a text message, they explained to some passengers that the AFP had received issues related to the strike at an air traffic control center in Marseille on Saturday.

“This will allow him to launch an air traffic control strike to prevent the cancellation of tickets for canceled flights passing through the area above Marseille,” another union source feared.

In Spain, 75 flights were canceled on Saturday in Madrid, Barcelona, ​​Palma, Ibiza, Santiago and Gerona, the USO (Union Syndical Obrera) announced, condemning the replacement of striking Spanish workers by officials from Morocco. “Illegal” because it violates the right to strike, according to USO Lydia Arasans.