brunos

Either I am unlucky or there are really many transport strikes in France. Flying in Tuesday 26, and it is expected to be chaos at Paris airports. Taxis blocking the terminal to protest othre VTCs. Some ATcs on strike, with 1/5 flights cancelled and other delayed. RER D disrupted.
Fun, fun, fun.

MRC

From AF website:
Industrial action in France called by air controllers and taxi drivers on January 26, 2016


Industrial action in France called by air controllers and taxi drivers on January 26, 2016

Updated on January 25, 2016 at 19h00 Paris local time


Following the strike action launched by the air traffic controller unions for the January 26, 2016, the French Civil Aviation Authority gave instructions to all airlines to downsize by 20% their flight schedule on January 26, 2016 to/from Paris Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly, Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Lyon, Nantes.

As a consequence, we plan to operate for January 26, 2016:
- Our whole long-haul program
- 80% of short and medium-haul program

Our flight schedule for January 26, 2016 is updated.

Moreover, French taxi drivers' protests are expected, access to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Toulouse, Marseille et Bordeaux airports will be disrupted.
Please take your precautions to anticipate your arrival at the airport and privilege check-in on line with your luggage on our website.

Our flights schedule is being updated. Last-minute delays and cancellations can also be expected.
Before going to the airport, we recommend you to verify the flight schedule information updated in real time on our site.

Moreover, in case of delay or cancellation, we propose our AF Connect service to inform our customers directly on their mobile phone or by e-mail. In order to be personally notified by AF Connect, Air France invites customers to update their personal contact details (mobile phone and /or email address) in their reservation file on the airline's website, in the "Consult/Modify my bookings" section.

If you have a valid Air France ticket for a flight scheduled on January 26, 2016 on a short and medium-haul flight, we offer you the following possibilities:

- To postpone your flight from January 25 to January 28 included, with no extra cost, subject to availabilities.

You can make these changes on our website, in the "Consult/Modify my bookings" section or on our mobile website in the "Manage my flights" section. For further details, please consult the practical information at the bottom of the page.

- To postpone your flight after January 28, 2016, change your destination or origin or cancel your trip, you can benefit from a non-refundable voucher valid for one year on Air France, HOP! or KLM. In this case, please contact your usual travel agent.

- In case of a cancellation or delay over 5 hours, you can also request the refund of your ticket. For this option, we invite you to visit our "Practical information" page below if you have purchased your ticket at an Air France sales point, or contact your usual travel agency.

We are doing everything possible to keep you informed and to minimize the inconvenience this strike may cause.

We thank you for your understanding.

JOUY31

Note that RER D does not go to CDG, RER B does.

brunos

Anyone has information on how affected is ORY terminal by taxi blockade? And actual number of cancellation. I am in the provinces with an afternoon flight and without much internet access.

brunos

So got from Nice to Orly. Many flights cancelled in late afternoon, most others with delay.
No taxis at ORY and my Lecab blocked so could not pick us up. Chose bus to Pont de Rungis and RER C. Was a big mistake. Ticket machines not working and long line to purchase a ticket. RER delayed by 50 min due to works. Had to carry bags up and down staircases twice due to change of "quai". Took a total of two hours to reach destination. Luckily my Easyjet was on time (only 20 minutes delay to get a landing slot), but a friend had to fly to CDG coz his AF flight was cancelled.

San Gottardo

For those who are interested in some background on the Paris taxis, here is a nice article (which actually won an award): http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/econo...s-clients.html

Other than that, I did manage to "avoid" the French strikes by being outside the country. But now my Zurich-London flight is delayed because we have to circumvent French air space!

Goldorak

I had to go to CDG today for a business lunch with a prior pick-up of attendees at CDG2F.
All CDG access roads were filtered by those nuts taxi drivers. People like me were passing without problem but all VTC were stopped and were having a "hard time". I saw a Le Cab limo full of eggs :roll eyes:. But there was no problem accessing CDG terminals.
Regarding the flights situation only a bunch of domestic flights were cancelled at lunch time (BOD, MPL, TLS). Other flights were either on-time or slightly delayed. So not too bad.

af fp

Taxi drivers are acting in a way that is not conducive to progress. They are also forgetting the fact that they have been delivering bad service to most people for years, privileging regular client with subscriptions, refusing credit cards or inconvenient routes, etc. Had I done this in my job I would not have lasted three months. On top of that, many were too happy to overcharge tourists on prices and to avoid paying taxes, things that are harder to do with GPS tracking and other technologies.

In a way or another they are bound to disappear and most people will have no simpathy for them. I certainly have absolutely none. I am not saying Uber is perfect for either users or drivers, but without it we only get stagnation and deprive many people from efficient means of transportation when public transport is insufficient.

Mokshu

Please do not that the strike is going on today as well and disruptions are expected in ORY and CDG accesses.

San Gottardo

AFAIK the taxi strikes go on. However, a number of other strikes have ended yesterday:

1. ATC
2. Teachers
3. Civil servants
4. Some hospital staff

The word "progress" takes a whole other meaning!

brunos

Indeed CDG is still blocked by taxis.
So no taxis available at CDG/ORY, nor VTC.

I was amazed arriving at ORLY South yesterday that there were no agent/information directing arriving foreigners to various public transportation. There are 7 new bus stops, but no info on which one could be used, and nothing in english. I would have expected some airport agent after luggage delivery or some information booth.
There is some info on the airport website, but it is totally outdated. It mentions gates letters where to board buses, those gate letters cannot be found. There are now station numbers, but these are discussed nowhere. For example bus to Pont de Rungis- RER C departs from station 6, but you cannot find it on the website.
There were many english-speaking tourists who were completely lost and had to rely on hearsay info from other misinformed tourists.
Shame on the airport .

DernierVirage

What about the Air France buses, are they getting into CDG?

I hate to say this, but I am happy not to live here anymore....nothing ever changes, nothing will ever change.

brunos

They do, more or less.
But their itinerary is not convenient for some destinations. And not everyone lives in downtown Paris. And remember that once you get anywhere, there won't be any taxi.

DernierVirage

I have a flight coming up, I was just wondering if it is better to avoid even the bus. Anyway, I guess (= hope!) that things will get back to normal pretty quickly.

San Gottardo

According to France Inter radio station, road access to all terminals at CDG is blocked by striking taxi drivers.

Good luck to all.