Turkish Airlines cancels several flights amid strikes in France
A departure board indicates canceled flights during a day of the nationwide strike led by French trade unions against the government's planned reform to the pension system, at Nice Cote d'Azur airport, in Nice, France,7 March 2023. (EPA photo)


Türkiye's flag carrier Turkish Airlines canceled several flights to and from France due to planned strikes by several unions.

According to a press release from the carrier, TK 7854 Sabiha Gökcen-Lyon, TK 1825 Istanbul-Paris, TK 7855 Lyon-Sabiha Gökcen, TK 1826 Paris-Istanbul, TK 1829 Istanbul-Paris, TK 1365 Istanbul-Marseille, and TK 1366 Marseille-Istanbul flights have been canceled for Thursday.

For Friday, TK 1830 Paris-Istanbul, TK 1807 Istanbul-Lyon, TK 1808 Lyon-Istanbul, TK 1365 Istanbul-Marseille, and TK 1366 Marseille-Istanbul flights were also canceled.

France has been facing flight disruptions due to strikes over the government's planned pension reforms.

On Thursday, workers were striking in protest against the proposed changes to the country’s pension system and continued to block fuel deliveries and reduce electricity production at several sites.

The power supply was reduced by 8.2 gigawatts (GW), or 13% of overall production, across some of the country's nuclear, thermal and hydropower sites due to the strike, EDF data showed.

TotalEnergies said there were again no fuel deliveries from its French refineries due to the strike.

There were also no deliveries from ExxonMobil unit Esso's Fos-sur-Mer refinery in southern France, although operations had returned to normal at Port Jerome in the northwest, a union representative told Reuters.

About 7% of French refueling stations lacked at least one product as of Wednesday, but "there is no supply problem for service stations and the situation is improving", said Olivier Gantois, president of the French Union for Petroleum, Energy and Mobility Industries UFIP.

While the price of diesel product contracts in Europe has edged up in recent days, "overall the market doesn't seem to be reacting to the strikes in the same way it did during October 2022," said Pamela Munger, senior market analyst at energy analytics firm Vortexa, referring to a previous wave of industrial action.

Opinion polls show a majority of voters oppose President Emmanuel Macron's plan to delay the state pension age by two years to 64, but the government says the policy change is essential to ensure the system does not go bust.