The RATP expects traffic “almost normal” for the metro and the RER in the Paris region Thursday, April 13, twelfth day of mobilization convened by the inter-union against the pension reform, according to its forecasts announced Tuesday. Only a few metro lines, not specified, will experience slight disruptions.
As for trams and buses, traffic will be normal “on the whole network”. The mobilization had already stalled on the previous day of mobilization, April 6, with slight disruptions. Some 570,000 people had marched that day in the country, according to the interior ministry, against 740,000 on March 28. “Nearly two million workers, young and retired, mobilized calmly and with determination”according to the unions.
20% fewer flights via Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse
With regard to planes, the general direction of civil aviation asks airlines to give up 20% of their flights Thursday at the airports of Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse. In the Paris region, the Ile-de-France airports of Orly and Roissy, the two busiest in France, are not affected by the consequences of the participation of air traffic controllers in the movement, according to the press release issued Tuesday evening by the DGAC.
The magnitude of these preventive cancellations is slightly lower than that of April 6, when four regional platforms were affected. These deletions of part of the departure and arrival flight schedules make it possible to bring them into line with the number of air traffic controllers at their post and therefore to avoid even greater disruption.
Despite these measures, “disruptions and delays are nevertheless to be expected” Thursday, said the DGAC in its press release. In addition to airports, disruptions may concern certain en route air navigation centers (CRNA), which guide aircraft flying over national territory.
Given the geographical position of France, these strikes have cascading effects on all European air traffic, which bristles many foreign carriers forced to cancel or delay flights.