
Ranked: The French airport with the fewest delays and cancellations
Toulouse-Blagnac airport came top of the 17 French airports listed as having regular international connections, scoring well for both punctuality and customer satisfaction.
The Air Help ranking is based mostly on punctuality - which covers flight delays and cancellations - with the remaining 40 percent of the score made up of overall customer satisfaction (20 percent) and the services including shops and restaurants offered (20 percent).
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For the second year in a row Toulouse came top of the French airports listed, scoring well on punctuality and customer satisfaction, albeit slightly less well on the shops and restaurant offering.
It was followed in the French classification by Lyon's Saint-Exupéry airport.
However in the global rankings France did not fare well - its best airport (Toulouse),
coming 101st
in the global ranking, with Lyon at 102nd.
This year the summer holiday season got off to a bad start in France with
a two-day strike by air traffic controllers
.
The strike caused widespread disruption to flights in and out of France and those passing over - within Europe one third of flights either take off and land in France or pass over its air space.
READ ALSO
:
Will there be more French air traffic control strikes this summer?✎

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Local France
13 hours ago
- Local France
Warning of French motorway 'péage' scam
As people head off on their summer holidays, millions will be passing through the tollbooths on French motorways. And the scammers have been taking advantage, sending out fake text messages telling people that they have an unpaid toll from a French motorway - seemingly targeting people who use the télépéage badges or the new 'free flow' motorways. The SMS purports to be from one of the private companies that operate France's autoroutes , such as Vinci or Ulys, and tells the user that they have an unpaid toll. Advertisement They are then invited to 'regularise the situation' by clicking on a link and entering bank details to pay the outstanding sum. An example of one of the scam messages The companies in question have confirmed that these are scams. Ulys says that it may contact customers by SMS "in order to complete a file", or to send reminders if the subscription payment has been rejected by your bank. The company urges its customers to remain cautious, in particular by checking the link, which should be the following: Vinci says it will only contact customers by SMS if "you have encountered a payment problem at a péage and have validated a statement of non-payment." In this case, the SMS will be sent by "VINCI" or "36035" only: "We do not use 06 or 07 numbers." Customers who do have accounts with the pre-pay télépéage system are advised to login directly to their online accounts to check if all payments have gone through, rather than clicking a link in an email or SMS. Some of the spam messages also target the new 'free flow' toll roads - where customers drive straight through and then pay online afterwards. Advertisement In truth, these are only in place on a small number of roads, and if you have driven through one you should have seen the signs advertising " péage flux libre ". Once again, it is advised to log on directly to the website, rather than clicking links in an email or text message. READ ALSO : MAP: Where are France's tollbooth-free motorways?✎ There are now three ways of paying if you are travelling on France's autoroutes this summer; Pay at the toll - the old-fashioned method involves stopping at the péage and paying as you go. Tollbooths allow you to pay with either cash or card, and almost all of them now have a contactless option for cards. This takes a little longer, but has the advantage that you know you are up to date with all payments and can therefore safely ignore any communication that claims you have an unpaid toll. Télépéage - this is a pre-registration system - you create an account with one of the companies offering télépéage, and in exchange you get a badge to hang in your car. When approaching the toll, you go into the special télépéage lane (signed with a 't') and then drive straight through without paying. The system reads your badge and then charges your account, with the exact charging system depending on the package you opted for (some are pay-as-you go, others offer a set monthly fee). You may get communications from the company when you need to renew your account, or telling you that a payment has failed (for example if you have a new bank card). Free-flow - this is only in place on certain roads, but it involves all vehicles driving straight through the péage without stopping. People who have a télépéage will be billed in the same way as when driving on other roads. Those who don't have a télépage will have to login and pay within 72 hours of passing through the toll. People who don't have internet access can pay at a tabac. READ ALSO : How will France's new free-flow autoroute tollbooths work for foreign vehicles?✎


Euronews
19 hours ago
- Euronews
EasyJet boss ‘extremely unhappy' about French ATC strikes
The boss of easyJet has said that recent French air traffic control strikes created 'unacceptable challenges for customers and crew'. Kenton Jarvis, chief executive of the budget airline, added that they were 'extremely unhappy' with the strike action in early July, which landed airlines with 'unexpected and significant costs'. More than 1 million passengers were impacted by the walkout from French air traffic controllers on 3 and 4 July over working conditions, according to European aviation coordinator Eurocontrol. EasyJet cancelled 660 flights due to the action, costing a total of £15 million (€17.3 million). French air traffic control has been the leading cause of delays for the carrier since the start of the summer. Jarvis demanded that the French government 'steps in and really works with their ANSP (air navigation service provider) because it has been the worst performing air traffic control area in Europe, and they get ahead of it and do some long-term measures.' Why are French air traffic controllers striking? Two unions, UNSA‑ICNA and USAC‑CGT, took part in strikes on 3 and 4 July. These are the second and third largest air traffic control unions in France. The biggest, SNCTA, didn't take part in the walkout. The action was driven by a number of workplace grievances, which are part of an ongoing dispute with the French Directorate General for civil aviation, such as chronic understaffing and ageing, and unreliable equipment, which unions say is on its last legs. Two unions also complained about what they called 'toxic' management culture with excessive internal surveillance, including the introduction of a new biometric time clock that monitors their work attendance. Ryanair calls for EU action on 'recreational' strikes The easyJet chief's comments add to pressure from budget carrier Ryanair, which has labelled the strikes from air traffic controllers as 'recreational'. The airline accused air traffic control staff in France of wanting 'time off' during the strike action on 3 and 4 July. Jade Kirwan, Ryanair's communications director, told The Telegraph that some staff had continued to strike or had called in sick over the weekend, resulting in two more days of cancellations. Ryanair is concerned that similar action and sickness claims could continue during the summer holidays, causing more travel chaos for passengers. 'What's stopping French air traffic controllers from closing the EU skies again next week or the week after with more of these unjustified recreational strikes?' CEO Michael O'Leary said earlier this month. He claimed that 90 per cent of the flights cancelled over the two-day strike could have been avoided if the European Commission had intervened. The budget carrier has called on the European Union to reform the bloc's air traffic control system to prevent chaos with flights over a country when controllers walk out. The EU's largest airline association, Airlines for Europe (A4E), has also hit out over disruption caused by the strikes. It said in early July that already, French air traffic control had proven to be 'one of the weakest links' in Europe's system. Ourania Georgoutsakou, Managing Director of A4E, said that French air traffic control already delivers some of the worst delay figures and called on policymakers to take action. How did air traffic control walkouts impact flights? Over the two-day walkout, a total of almost 3,000 flights were cancelled and more than 7,400 delayed, according to Eurocontrol figures. It affected more than 1 million passengers, with around 200,000 unable to fly as they had intended due to cancellations. The strikes pushed the percentage of flights arriving and departing on time down from the June average of 75 per cent to 64 per cent over the two days. One in five European flights is normally routed over France, even if they don't land there. Flights to and from the neighbouring countries of Spain, the UK and Italy were particularly badly impacted. The proportion of flights passing over France is much higher, with more like half of its flights being routed over the country. This makes the carrier much more vulnerable to industrial action by French air traffic controllers. Eurocontrol estimates the total cost to the aviation industry of the strikes at €120 million in lost revenue and spending on care for passengers impacted by the disruption. Around €47 million came from the cost of delays and €72 million from cancellations. A European Union official told the Financial Times that this summer could be the worst ever for delays and cancellations due to air traffic control staff shortages, strikes, fires and high demand for travel.

LeMonde
a day ago
- LeMonde
In Rome, the re-enchanted gardens of the Villa Medici
According to the director, Sam Stourdzé, whose term ends this summer and who is seeking reappointment, "the citrus trees are part of the 'Re-enchanting the Villa' project." He launched this ambitious program when he arrived in 2020, with the aim of refreshing the site. At the end of 2022, the salons – where fellows hold work meetings but also host receptions, concerts and lectures – were renovated under the artistic direction of Italian fashion house Fendi, with support from the Mobilier National, France's national furniture collections and workshops. In 2023, India Mahdavi reimagined six historic rooms, three of which are open to the villa's 140,000 annual visitors. In early June, amid Rome's sweltering heat, the results of the third chapter of this "re-enchantment" were unveiled: the opening of six guest rooms, known as "de la passerelle," created by designer-artisan duos following a call for entries; the lemon grove, designed by landscape architect Bas Smets in collaboration with chief architect of historic monuments Pierre-Antoine Gatier; and, facing the splendid façade lined with antiquities, the parterre garden, where 20 Tuscan pots containing rare citrus trees have been installed, born from a collaboration between Japanese ceramist Natsuko Uchino and French writer Laura Vazquez. Of course, the six new guest rooms inspire dreams, and it is a pleasure to admire the wall evoking Leonardo da Vinci's sfumato in a fresco reimagined by Studio GGSV, the beautiful sobriety of the design by Eliane Le Roux and Miza Mucciarelli, and Constance Guisset's ship's cabin. For each project, architects and designers worked closely with exceptional artisans, thanks to major support from the Bettencourt Schueller Fondation, which is particularly active in the field of craftsmanship.