The country's Cepa drive is aimed at removing unnecessary barriers to trade and improving market access for services, including the elimination or reduction of customs duties
French air traffic controllers are to stage a one-day strike on Thursday that risks seeing most flights cancelled at the two main Paris airports, France's leading aviation association warned on Tuesday.
Unions called the strike after a breakdown of negotiations on salary increases and other measures in a planned overhaul of France's air traffic control system.
The action has raised new concerns over the risk of strikes during the Olympic Games that Paris is due to host from late July, when hundreds of thousands of extra visitors are expected.
Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.
The main air traffic union has also warned it could order several days of strike action over a busy May holiday weekend if its demands are not met.
The strike is going to be "very strongly followed", said Pascal de Izaguirre, the head of FNAM, an umbrella group of French aviation industry unions.
He said 75 percent of flights could be cancelled at Paris Orly airport and 65 percent at Charles de Gaulle, the capital's main airport.
Those figures were confirmed late on Tuesday by a source with knowledge of the cancellations, with airlines also being forced to cancel 65 percent of flights in the southern city of Marseille.
France's DGAC aviation authority is also telling airlines to cut 60 percent of flights at both the Toulouse and Nice airports, and 50 percent at other regional airports.
"It will have a huge impact," de Izaguirre said.
On top of the cancellations, "major delays" are to be expected, said an official from the air traffic controllers' union, asking not to be named.
The air traffic control reforms aim to improve productivity but unions think the changes should be accompanied by higher salaries.
The main air traffic union, the SNCTA, has also issued notice it could strike on three days, from Thursday May 9 to Saturday May 11.
This could potentially wreck many people's holiday plans, with May 9 a public holiday and May 10 traditionally used as a "pont" (bridge) to make a long weekend.
In a statement, the union condemned the failure of the discussions "in particular on the question of social support" and gave authorities two weeks to "engage in a search for solutions" before it carries out the strike threat.
ALSO READ:
The country's Cepa drive is aimed at removing unnecessary barriers to trade and improving market access for services, including the elimination or reduction of customs duties
Today, the country's non-oil sector accounts for about 74 per cent of the total GDP
The yellow metal has lost Dh2.5 since Monday
Investors are advised to deal with only SEBI registered mutual funds
The first centre will bring together academic researchers and practitioners from the private sector to develop and share best practices in responsible AI
The UAE has already signed CEPA with major trading partners such as India, Israel, Chile, Colombia, Turkey, Indonesia, Georgia and Cambodia
New developments hold key to the future of work, expert says
A year-on-year (YoY) increase of 20.2 per cent, or Dh135 billion, was recorded