Strikes in France cause travel chaos

Strikes in France have been causing travel chaos for air passengers in the UK today. British Airways has been forced to cancel half of all flights between Heathrow and Paris, and more will be cancelled as the strikes continue.

Workers are holding strikes in France to protest against the rise in retirement age, which the government is planning to change from 60 to 62. Flights, rail travel, Metro rail services and bus travel will all be affected by service cancellations.

Travelling on the Metro has been tricky today, and many have had to queue up just to get onto the platforms. Around half of Metro rail services have been cancelled today.

Two weeks ago, workers across France took to the streets to voice their distaste of the proposed changes. Today, over 200 hundred demonstrations have been taking place all over France. The demonstrations could cause disruption to holidaymakers.

President Sarkozy commented on the new changes to the retirement age: ‘The pension reform is one of the most important reforms for France. At a time when one pension out of ten is funded by debt, our goal is to make sure the pensions of French people and their children are properly financed.'

Anyone flying to France today can expect severe delays to their journey due to the strikes in France. Contact your airline before leaving for the airport to find out about any travel delays.

If you are already on holiday in France and you are planning to fly home today, make sure you allow plenty of time to get to the airport in case there are any train or bus cancellations. Many flights out of Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports have been cancelled today.

Eurostar services are not expected to be affected by the strikes in France and should run as normal.

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