According to the report, the administration of Paris Orly Airport has asked air carriers to cancel 30% of flights on Thursday because of the mobilization of air traffic controllers against the pension reform.
The French Directorate General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) has also asked air carriers to cancel some 20% of flights at the airports of Toulouse, Marseille, Lyon, Montpellier, and Nantes, the report said.
9 February 2023, 00:35 GMT
On January 10, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne presented a draft pension reform legislation, which the government plans to implement in September 2023. According to Borne's plan, the French government will begin to raise the retirement age in the country by three months per year from September 1, gradually increasing it from the current age of 62 to 64 by 2030.
The first general strike against the pension reform plan took place on January 19 and gathered over a million people nationwide, with 80,000 in Paris. A total of 2.8 million people took part in the second demonstration on January 31. However, only around 757,000 people showed up at the third nationwide protest last week, with 57,000 in Paris alone. During the fourth strike on Saturday, the French Interior Ministry estimated nationwide attendance at 963,000, whereas France's largest union, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), put it at 2.5 million, according to the French broadcaster.
Due to Saturday's strike action, about half of the flights have been canceled at the Orly international airport in Paris.
The fifth national demonstration is scheduled for Thursday.