Flight cancellations and delays of over three hours in Europe were up over 2022 and 2019 over the Easter holiday weekend from April 5 to 11, most markedly in France and Britain, according to data from flight claim management firm AirHelp.

"The situation quickly deteriorated as France was sinking into the pension reform crisis. Charles de Gaulle airport is negatively affected, both as a destination and as a hub," said Olivier Ponti, VP of Insights at travel data firm ForwardKeys.

In France, where air traffic control staff were on strike in recent weeks, 62 percent of flights were on time, compared with 75 percent in 2022 and 76 percent in 2019 before the pandemic brought international travel to a standstill, Airhelp data shared with Reuters showed.

Some 33,300 flights were canceled this year over Easter, compared with 7,800 last year, while 9,000 flights were delayed by more than three hours, compared with 6,800 last year.

Transfers and planned stays through Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris dropped by around 75 percent compared to 2019 levels by mid-March, according to ForwardKeys.

Paris airports operator Aeroports de Paris estimated on Monday it lost around 470,000 passengers between January and March due to the strikes.

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