The General Directorate of Civil Aviation of France (DGAC) warned today for widespread disruption at airports of the country Wednesday March 15, due to the scheduled nationwide strike which will take place in sign of protest for plan by the French government to raise the retirement age.

DGAC added in a statement that it had asked airlines to cut by 20% their scheduled March 15 flights from Paris’s Orly airport.

Flights to the airport of Marseille (in the south) and Basel-Milhouette (in the east of France) experienced long delays today due to the mobilization of air traffic controllers against the reform of the pension system, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) announced. .

Unlike the previous six days when air traffic controller unions called for a strike, the DGAC had not today called for pre-emptive cuts to scheduled flights in France.

However, in view of the inspectors’ work stoppages, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation today ordered the presence of “security personnel” at Marseille-Provence airport and its surrounding airspace, which “caused significant delays at the airport”, a DGAC spokesman explained.

There were also problems with air traffic around Basel-Milhouse airport today, with “significant delays”, according to European aviation safety agency Eurocontrol.

From last Tuesday until last Friday, the DGAC had asked airlines to cut flights departing from French airports by 20 to 30%, and then by 20% at the weekend, at a small number of airports.

French unions had already organized seven days of demonstrations against the pension reform promoted by the government, which mainly provides for the increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.