Switzerland expects many delays due to strikes on Tuesday

Switzerland announced on Monday that flights to other destinations such as Spain, Portugal or the United States that transit French airspace would be affected. “Long delays are to be expected,” the airline said.

In some cases it will also be necessary to detour to the south or north of France. This, in turn, leads to further delays. Overall, Switzerland expects “significant” impacts with many delays and isolated flight cancellations.

To date, the return flight between Geneva and Nice has been cancelled. Replacements are now being sought for the 120 affected passengers.

Never before have so many cancellations happened

“Our staff have been working intensively for a few days to keep our flight schedule as stable as possible,” said Swiss Chief Operating Officer Oliver Buchover. Avoiding cancellations is a top priority. In addition, they want to carry out flights as punctually as possible. But this “unfortunately will not always be possible,” says Bokhover.

Last weekend, strikes in Italy led to the cancellation of 23 flights. According to the announcement, around 2,000 Swiss travelers were affected. Buchhofer says that never before in the history of the airline have so many flights been canceled due to various strikes as in the past 12 months. According to the announcement, the financial impact of the 2023 strikes will already be in the mid tens of millions.