Ryanair has called on the French Government for an immediate reform of the air traffic control system in the country to safeguard overflights in strike scenarios, after learning of a report by Senator Vincent Capo-Canellas which estimates the cost for airlines at up to 1.7 billion euros annually by 2035.
In a statement sent to the media, the Irish company emphasizes that the document corroborates that DSNA, the French public air traffic control provider, suffers from a severe staff shortage, exhibits low productivity levels, operates with outdated technology, and is not prepared to absorb the projected increase in traffic in the coming years.
Among the airline's main demands is the hiring of air traffic controllers "without limits" until 2030 to compensate for the staff shortage and planned retirements, as well as the introduction of explicit protection for overflights during French air traffic control strikes, so that "flights between non-French countries are not unnecessarily cancelled or delayed due to French industrial action."
Ryanair also believes that DSNA's budget should be decoupled from the French State's spending restrictions, allowing air traffic control fees to be directly allocated to strengthening staff, increasing capacity, and modernizing systems.
Another proposal focuses on shortening the duration of air traffic controller training to align it with that of other European countries, where it is possible to qualify in less than two years, along with a "thorough" review of operational procedures and shift organization in order to increase productivity and service capacity.
"France cannot be allowed to become the permanent bottleneck of European airspace due to years of mismanagement of air traffic control," said Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon.
Drawing again on the report, McMahon recalls that, if reforms are not implemented, Eurocontrol predicts that by 2030 French air traffic control will be unable to absorb all flight demand, meaning "a portion of flights will inevitably and structurally have to be cancelled."
Finally, he warned that 30% of French controllers will retire before 2035, which "will exacerbate the current staff shortage."