Tens of thousands of passengers are affected by a strike by French air traffic control on Friday.
Ryanair has canceled 420 flights, most of which were due to fly through France, affecting 80,000 passengers.
EasyJet has canceled 76 flights, British Airways has canceled 22, while Air France has said it will only operate 45% of its short-haul flights.
Separately, 15% of Heathrow Airport’s flight schedule will be changed on Monday during Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral.
To ensure skies remain calm over London during the events, there will be flight cancellations, including 100 British Airways flights and four Virgin Atlantic flights.
The strike action in France is being led by air traffic control union SNCTA over wages, rising inflation and hiring.
Ryanair said all affected passengers have been notified. The low-cost carrier typically operates more than 3,000 flights a day.
Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s operations director, said it was “inexplicable” that thousands of European citizens and visitors would “unfairly disrupt their travel plans”.
“It is unforgivable that passengers who are not even flying to or from France are being disrupted,” he said.
He said French laws protect French domestic flights but not those flying across the country.
“It’s time for the European Union to step in and protect overflights so European passengers aren’t repeatedly held for ransom by a tiny French air traffic control union,” he said.
Budget competitor EasyJet said it canceled flights at the request of French authorities.
EasyJet said: “While this is out of our control, we would like to apologize to our customers for any inconvenience this may cause.”
British Airways said along with the 22 canceled flights to and from Heathrow there could be additional delays on Friday.
Air France operates only 45% of its short- and medium-haul flights and 90% of its long-haul flights. It was also warned that delays and last-minute cancellations cannot be ruled out.
The flight cuts affect all of France, the French civil aviation authority said – DGAC. It added that it is currently working with Europe’s air traffic regulator, Eurocontrol, to help airlines avoid the country’s airspace.
Strikes across the airline industry have caused severe disruption to Europe’s summer traffic, including ground and cabin crew demanding pay rises to cope with rising costs of living amid high inflation.
In July, multiple strikes by firefighters and employees at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport led to cancellations and delays.
Separately, Heathrow Airport said Monday’s flight schedule would change during the Queen’s funeral.
Heathrow said all takeoffs and landings on Monday will be delayed by 15 minutes before and after the two-minute silence at the end of the funeral.
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Thereafter there are no arrivals between 13:45 BST and 14:20 BST during the hearse procession and no departures between 15:03 BST and 16:45 for the ceremonial procession down the Long Walk to Windsor Castle.
Between 4:45pm BST and 9:00pm BST departures will be reduced to support the Commitment service at St George’s Chapel.
Flights will also be diverted around Windsor Castle “to minimize noise during the private family church service and funeral,” it said.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued guidance which means passengers whose flights are canceled or severely delayed due to the changes at Heathrow on Monday will not be entitled to financial compensation. This is because these are likely to be considered exceptional circumstances.
However, airlines offer their customers refunds or rebookings.
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