French pension strikes forced Ryanair to cancel 650 flights in April

Ryanair said strike action by French air traffic controllers forced the budget carrier to ground 650 flights last month affecting 118,000 passengers.

The airline on Wednesday said passenger numbers in April rose by 13% year-on-year to 16 million with an improved load factor of 94%, up 3 percentage points, although the previous year’s numbers were affected by Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Ryanair reported a rolling 12 month total of 170.3 million passengers, up 55% year on year.

French workers have mounted a series of strikes since January in protest at government plans to raise the retirement age to 64 from 62.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com