PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd March, 2023) Paris airports Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais, as well as other airports in France's biggest cities, will cancel some 20-30% of flights on March 7 and 8 due to nationwide strike action against controversial pension reform, the French Civil Aviation Authority (GDAC) said Thursday.
"Starting Monday evening, March 6, until 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, March 9, air traffic for arrivals and departures will be disrupted at Paris airports Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais, as well as at the airports of Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice, and Toulouse. Cancellations and delays of flights are expected," the GDAC said in a statement on Twitter.
The authority asked the management of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to cancel 20% of flights and requested that some 30% of flights be canceled at other airports.
France's unions announced in February that nationwide strike action would be held on March 7. The union called for a "blockade of the country" should the French government fail to abandon the consideration of the pension reform.
In January, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne unveiled a draft of the controversial pension reform that the government plans to adopt in 2023. Under the initiative, the French authorities intend to gradually raise the retirement age in the country by three months a year from September 1, 2023. By 2030, the retirement age will reach 64 years.
Since the first nationwide strike held on January 19, four more general strikes have taken place in France, bringing together hundreds of thousands of people.
