FRANCE: Sixth day of national protests grounds half of French domestic flights

Record ID: 340081

  • Title: FRANCE: Sixth day of national protests grounds half of French domestic flights
  • Date: 20th October 2010
  • Summary: PEOPLE IN HALL PASSENGERS SLEEPING PASSENGERS CHECKING IN PLANE MOVING ON TARMAC
  • Embargoed: 4th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Domestic Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA77MZVAIT6YNQDVWZPG94K1HOV
  • Story Text: Up to a half of flights were expected to be cancelled at Paris' main Orly airport on Tuesday (October 19), as France entered its sixth day of national strikes over a controversial government plan to reform the pension system.
    Information screens at the airport, which handles the bulk of France's domestic flights, were a sea of red as airlines tried to get long haul flights in the air at the expense of shorter destinations.
    Those passengers who were travelling said they weren't taking any risks.
    "We got up at five to catch a midday flight. It looks as if it'll leave on time, but the plane hasn't yet landed here so we don't know if it'll be late,"
    The government says pension reform is essential to keep one of Europe's most generous systems fully funded, but unions say the reforms are unjust and have vowed to make President Nicolas Sarkozy back down.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register