Strike grounds hundreds of flights in France

PARIS -- A strike by French air traffic controllers forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights in and out of France on Tuesday, creating havoc for travelers across Europe during a nationwide walkout by civil servants.

The air traffic controllers joined bus, subway and train drivers, hospital workers, and electricity and telephone utility staff in the strike over pay, retirement benefits and the French government's privatization plans.

The protests were the biggest labor challenge yet for the 5-month-old government of center-right Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, which has made a priority of selling off the state's stake in many French companies to raise cash.

Flights in France and Europe were hardest hit by the strike, officials said. Long-haul flights to destinations such as the United States, Asia and Africa were much less affected, the Paris airports authority said.

Strike began Monday

The authority said around 80 percent of flights -- or a total of more than 1,000 -- were canceled at Paris' Orly and Charles de Gaulle airports. The strike began Monday evening and was expected to continue until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Italian carrier Alitalia said three out of four of its daily 90 flights between France and Italy were canceled. Hungary's national airline, Malev, canceled 10 flights into or out of Paris, and Scandinavian Airlines canceled 27 flights linking Paris and the French Riviera town of Nice to Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Spain's national aviation authority said about 130 flights between Spain and France were canceled and use of French airspace by flights that didn't land in France also was hindered.

At Frankfurt airport, continental Europe's busiest, the walkout caused the cancellation of 72 flights, an airport spokesman said.

Disruptions for travelers in France weren't limited to the skies.

Bottlenecks formed on platforms in many Paris subway stations in the morning rush hour. Commuters in the cities of Toulouse, Bordeaux and Marseille also faced sharp service cutbacks in buses and subways.

In Paris, tens of thousands of public employees, many lighting flares that formed huge clouds of smoke, marched through the city.

"All together! All together! Yes! Yes!" the protesters shouted. Union organizers claimed 80,000 participants. The police put their number at 30,000.

Thousands more stomped through the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, and in the towns of Toulouse in the south and Rennes in the northwest.