Mr. Michael O'Leary:

There are a couple of different issues. Eurocontrol is just a collection agency. All it does is collect all the ATC fees and distribute them. The situation is getting marginally better this summer only because the French have not engaged, thus far, in 53 days of air traffic control strikes. It had 53 days of ATC strikes between February and June last year. They were protesting President Macron's pension reforms, from which they were exempt. Secondary striking in France is a national pastime. The French ATC is the most strike-prone and they are allowed to have secondary striking. Even when it is a subject that does not affect them, they can go on strike. The problem on which we continue to campaign is trying to persuade Europe. In fact, I have campaigned so aggressively that I have taken a couple of pies in the face outside Berlaymont. When there is a strike, the French use minimum service legislation to protect their domestic local flights. It cancels all the overflights. Most other EU countries, notably Spain, Italy and Greece, protect 100% of overflights and cancel local fights but the French take the opposite view, for obvious reasons. The problem is the geographic centrality of France. We do not need French ATC to allow us to overfly France but they close the sky and there is no capacity to fly around so we have to cancel. Typically, on a French ATC strike day, we have to cancel 600 flights.