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PARIS, France (Reuters) --Striking French air traffic controllers forced airlines to scrap 60 percent of flights to and from Orly airport south of Paris and dozens at Charles de Gaulle and threatened further action next week.
Air traffic staff, protesting for the second day on Tuesday against a planned reorganization that could make some of them relocate, voted unanimously in favor of an ultimatum to management saying they would strike again next week if their demands were ignored.
"The strike will go on (next week) if there's no opening of genuine negotiations and withdrawal of the current plans," Harold Quesnel of the CGT union said. The controllers initially planned to strike for five days.
The national civil aviation agency (DGAC) said the strike had so far caused the cancellation of 60 percent of flights at Orly, which handles mainly domestic flights. At Charles de Gaulle airport, some eastern European flights were cancelled and many others were delayed for up to an hour, it said.
AdP, the company that manages the Paris airports, said several dozen flights had been cancelled at Charles de Gaulle by midday, including flights to Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
Air France said it would ensure the operation of all its long-haul flights and 40 percent of short or medium-haul flights at Orly on Tuesday, and all its services at Charles de Gaulle.
Only 40 percent of flights to and from Orly operated on Monday, forcing many passengers to wait for hours or to change their travel plans for the school holiday period.
"I'll have to wait for two hours. That's not too bad," said passenger Antoine, sitting in Orly's waiting area with dozens of other travellers on Tuesday. "It's not fair," said fellow passenger Peggy. "But I guess the strikers have a point too."
Government stands firm
Unions argue they did not have enough say in the reorganisation. "We have had no discussions, no examination of this matter. We propose that the issue be properly examined first," Guy Maisonneuve of the USAC-CGT union told France 2 television.
Transport Minister Gilles de Robien stood his ground, saying the planned changes were aimed at improving air safety around the two airports.
"I think controllers in Orly and Roissy know this is for optimising security. I count on their understanding to admit this, even though I understand perfectly that it will change some habits," he told reporters on a visit to Madrid.
President Jacques Chirac has said he wants unions to agree to guarantee a basic minimum service throughout the transport sector during strikes, angering some unions, which see this as an attempt to limit their right to strike.
France's state railway operator SNCF, dealing with a sudden surge in demand caused by the airports' woes, has said it will provide between 2,000 and 6,000 additional seats per day on its trains in the coming days.
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