More than 80 flights canceled in the Balearic Islands on the second day of the French air traffic controllers' strike.

PalmThe Balearic Islands' airports recorded a total of 85 canceled flights and widespread delays this Friday, the second day of the French air traffic controllers' strike. According to information from Aena consulted by Europa Press, up to 69 connections to Palma Airport, the most affected of the Spanish airports, were canceled this Friday, along with a dozen in Ibiza and six in Menorca.

The cancellations and delays come at the start of a weekend when Balearic airports are scheduled to operate a total of 4,895 flights, 3.4% fewer than the number recorded on the first weekend of the same month in 2024, when there were 5.

The air traffic controllers' strike in France, called by Unsa-Icna for this Thursday and Friday, continues this Friday with the cancellation of 40% of flights to three Parisian airports, in addition to a 50% drop in activity at the Nice aerodrome, according to data from the General Directorate of AGA Le Figaro.

Specifically, the three airports in the capital affected are Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Orly, and Beauvais, while the airports of Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Ajaccio, Bastia, Calvi, and Figari will have 30% fewer operations. "Despite these preventive measures, significant disruptions and delays are expected at all French airports," the administration warned in a statement.

On the airline side, the A4E association has strongly condemned the strike, noting that more than 1,500 flights have been cancelled over the two days, with nearly 300,000 affected. "Already in 2025, French ATC has proven to be one of the weak points of the European system, which has had some of the worst delay records in Europe," it warned. Ryanair has also been forced to cancel a total of 400 flights affecting more than 70,000 passengers, according to a statement. "These forced cancellations coincide once again with the start of the European summer holidays, one of the busiest travel periods of the year," it lamented.

It also once again focused on overflights, which it denounced as "still unprotected" during the statewide air traffic control strikes. As for Air France, it adapted its flight schedule for the two days, although it stated that it is maintaining all long-haul operations. On its website, it advised passengers to check their flight status and also confirmed that customers can postpone their trip "at no cost."

"Toxic" and "authoritarian" management

After two fruitless meetings with the DGAC, the last one on Monday, Unsa-ICNA maintained the strike call for Thursday and Friday. The strike was joined by the third largest air traffic controllers' union, Usac-CGT, which had also denounced a "seriously deteriorated social context" at the DGAC. Meanwhile, the largest controllers' union, SNCTA, assured AFP that it would not participate in the strike.

Unsa-ICNA denounced the "toxic" and "authoritarian" management of the DGAC and criticized the entity's failure to modernize "essential" tools for the group, although it "continuously promises that all resources will be deployed in this area." Along these lines, it recalled in a statement that the main cause of the delays and poor performance attributable to French air navigation services is "well known," namely, "the structural insufficiency of personnel."

For its part, the DGAC regretted the choice of dates, since "they correspond to the busiest days of the year, due to the large number of vacation departures during this period."

Finally, the French Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, reacted by rejecting the unions' demands, which he described as "minority-sized," since "they are unacceptable, as is the decision to go on strike at the time of major vacation departures."