Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Euro 2016: French strikes wreck travel plans for thousands of football fans and tourists

On the eve of the first games for England and Wales, many flights and trains have been cancelled

Simon Calder
Travel correspondent
Friday 10 June 2016 16:09 BST
Comments
Garbage is piled up, as French striking CGT labour Union garbage collectors block access to the Paris waste treatment center in Ivry Sur Seine, near Paris
Garbage is piled up, as French striking CGT labour Union garbage collectors block access to the Paris waste treatment center in Ivry Sur Seine, near Paris

Demand for travel to Marseille for England’s first match of Euro 2016 is so high that the six British Airways flights before the game are all full, and easyJet has only a few seats available at £365 one-way. But thousands of fans hoping to dodge the squeeze and high prices by routing themselves via Paris face disappointment: strikes by rail workers and airline pilots have cut much of the the capacity between the French capital and Marseille.

Air France said that despite the pilots’ strike, called over a range of issues, most travellers will be unaffected.

The airline plans to operate more than 90 per cent of long-haul flights, three out of four European flights to and from Paris, and nine out of 10 domestic flights. However, England fans hoping to fly from or via Paris to reach Marseille in time for Saturday’s match could find their plans wrecked.

Four of the seven Air France flights on Saturday between Paris and Marseille have been cancelled, and the airline warned “last-minute disturbances” could add to the list of axed departures.

Three flights from Paris to Bordeaux, where Wales take on Slovakia in their first match, have also been cancelled.

Soldiers pass by a pile of rubbish bags on the Grands Boulevards in Paris, France (REUTERS/Charles Platiau)

Some services connecting Heathrow, Birmingham and Glasgow with Paris have been grounded by the pilots’ strike.

Railway workers are among the groups protesting about plans to liberalise French labour laws. Their indefinite strike has had only patchy effects so far. But many of the expected 2.5m foreign football fans will be planning travel by train between fixtures.

On Europe 1 Radio, the transport minister Alain Vidalies said: “There will be no more negotiating.” He said that the government was prepared to requisition trains to get fans to their teams’ matches.

The British company Stagecoach may benefit from the disruption, with fans switching to its Megabus network in France.

The continued disarray of organised transport in France has boosted interest in car-sharing, with the French website Bla Bla Car offering a 5am ride from London to Marseille on Saturday morning for £89. A car from Cardiff to Bordeaux for Wales's first game departed full at lunchtime on Friday.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in