British low-cost airline EasyJet has cancelled hundreds of flights as the second day of strike action by French air traffic controllers took its toll.
The airline did not operate 331 flights after cancelling 248 on April 8.
Some passengers have been stranded in European cities after Easter breaks, prompting Easyjet to operate five “rescue” flights on April 10.
The additional flights will run from London’s Luton to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Luton, London’s Gatwick to Madrid, and Marrakech to Gatwick.
EasyJet says it will put larger aircraft on routes that have been most affected to allow more passengers to get home.
A spokesman said the “unnecessary” strike had caused “considerable and disproportionate disruption for passengers and airlines across Europe”.
Rival Ryanair said it had been forced to cancel more than 500 flights over the last two days.
“We again call on the EU [European Union] and French authorities to act now and prevent thousands of travelers being held to ransom by these French [air traffic control] workers,” the Irish low-cost airline said.
Air France said it was operating one-in-four flights to and from Orly airport in Paris, about 40% to and from cities in the rest of France, and 50% of medium-haul flights to and from Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport.
No long-haul Air France flights were affected on April 9.
Air traffic controllers are planning further industrial action from April 16 to 18 and from April 29 to May 2 – both key holiday periods.
Roger Rousseau, head of the SNCTA union that represents French air traffic controllers, said: “We can assure our passengers that we are doing everything possible to limit the inconvenience of this strike on them.”
Among the issues upsetting members is that the retirement age will be raised from 57 to 59.
An Air France Airbus A340 plane flew for 5 days before ground crews noticed that 30 screws were missing from one of its wings.
The aircraft had undergone routine maintenance in China, before flying to Paris and then on to the US before the potentially disastrous blunder was finally spotted.
The Air France jet, which can carry up to 440 passengers, was grounded in Boston while a “large protective panel” was screwed back into place.
Air France problem was revealed in an internal union document leaked to French news agency AFP.
The company have blamed aircraft mechanics in the Chinese city of Xiamen, were the airline’s jets are often serviced because of lower costs.
An Air France Airbus A340 plane flew for 5 days before ground crews noticed that 30 screws were missing from one of its wings
An Air France technical operations spokesman said: “The plane flew for several days before it was grounded because one third of the screws holding down a piece of bodywork were missing.
“It was part of the outer covering of the wing and at no point was flight safety compromised.
“The maintenance team that works for Air France are internationally recognized and this is the first ever incident of its kind.”
But an aircraft construction expert said: “The piece itself may not have endangered the flight if it came off.
“But there is always the risk that it could have struck and damaged another very important part of the aircraft as it became detached and blew away in flight.”
An Air France union spokesman described the oversight as “deplorable”.
The spokesman added: “Pieces of an aircraft should never simply go missing during maintenance. It is not the first time this has happened either.
“Last year a Boeing 747 was grounded after undergoing maintenance in China because parts of the plane had been painted with flammable paint.”
The crash of an Air France Concorde 11 years ago, killing 113 people, was blamed on a strip of metal on the runway which punctured the plane’s tyres and sent rubber fragments flying into a fuel tank.
[googlead tip=”vertical_mic”] Gerard Depardieu said he tried to urinate into a bottle “as discreetly as possible” while on a flight and he was “sorry” to have spilt some on the plane’s carpet.
Gerard Depardieu, the famous French actor gave quite the show on Tuesday in a City Jet flight from Paris to Dublin when he reacted to the news he would not be allowed to use a bathroom until the plane was taking off by urinating on the plane’s carpet in full view of the fellow passengers.
The story surfaced on Wednesday morning, when an eyewitness, who was among the 127 passengers on board the Air France jet, went to the French radio station Europe 1 and recounted Gerard Depardieu‘s urinary performance.
Sources from Gerard Depardieu’s entourage has pronounced he attempted to urinate into a bottle “as discreetly as possible” while on a flight, and said he was “sorry” to have spilt some on a plane’s carpet.
Gerard Depardieu said he tried to urinate into a bottle "as discreetly as possible" while on a flight and he was "sorry" to have spilt some on the plane's carpet.
The famous French actor has had more than his fair share of controversy when he was caught short on a Paris to Dublin flight after the seat belt sign had been switched on for take-off. Waiting for the aircraft to take off, with the plane bathrooms, the 62-year-old actor called out “I need to piss, we need to piss”. But the cabin crew didn’t allow him to use the lavatory until the plane was achieving the cruise speed.
Given his “irrepressible need”, his companions, including a French actor Edouard Baer, offered him a dull bottle as a final solution for his need.[googlead tip=”lista_mica” aliniat=”dreapta”]
Gerard Depardieu left his seat and tried to relieve himself into an empty bottle at the back of the plane.
“A little urine was spilt on the floor, which the actor offered to clean up himself, saying he was sorry for the inconvenience caused,” companions said.
The jet was forced to return to the gate and was delayed for a further two hours as ground crew cleaned up the mess.[googlead tip=”patrat_mic” aliniat=”dreapta”]
After this incident, Gerard Depardieu, who was traveling with two companions, was thrown off the flight with his luggage and told to book another one.
“He was completely sober but desperate to relieve himself. At first he was told he had 15 minutes to wait, but then due to congestion on the runway, he was informed he would have to endure another 20 minutes,” Depardieu’s friends said.
Air France confirmed the incident took place in a statement to national TV station TF1, but said it was unclear what or whether action would be taken against the movie actor as the flight was operated by City Jet, a subsidiary of the national carrier based in Ireland.
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