French Air And Rail Strike Set To Start
French Air And Rail Strike Set To Start
6 September 2010French Air Traffic Control and railway workers are due to commence a national strike at 6pm (GMT) today, following government plans to raise the retirement age.
The French National Aviation Authority has restricted a number of flights to and from France.
Air France announced that short and medium-haul flights from Orly, Paris would be cut to 50%. Flights from Charles de Gaulle will be cut to 90%. Long-haul services however should remain unaffected.
France's SNCF state railway company said inter-city and local train services would be reduced by 50% or more.
Nevertheless, Eurostar said its services to and from France would continue to operate as per usual, with other international services running close to full capacity.
The Civil Aviation Authority has urged passengers to check the status of their flights before attempting to leave for the airport.
The strike is expected to end at 6am Thursday.
The walkout comes ahead of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to raise the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62. Government also plans to increase the age to which people can retire with a full pension from 65 to 67.
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