A snap 72-hour walk-out by the SNCTA—the union representing roughly 70 % of French air-traffic controllers—forced the Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) to close Montpellier-Méditerranée, Nîmes-Garons and Perpignan-Rivesaltes airports from the early hours of 20 December. NOTAMs issued by the DGAC also capped movements at Lyon Saint-Exupéry by 60 % to relieve over-flown sectors.
The stoppage is the latest escalation in a long-running dispute over roster reform and mandatory rest periods. Negotiations broke down after a night-long session in Paris, prompting controllers to abandon posts at 04:00. By dawn, departure boards at Montpellier were blank and arriving aircraft were being diverted to Toulouse or Marseille.
For corporate mobility managers, the timing could not be worse. TGV holiday services are already sold out and many companies were relying on regional air links to move staff between manufacturing sites and headquarters before year-end closures. Several firms reported having to move board meetings online at short notice, while relocation teams scrambled to re-book travellers via Toulouse, Girona or Barcelona.
![Air-Traffic Controller Strike Shuts Three Southern France Airports Ahead of Holiday Rush]()
In such fluid circumstances, it pays to verify that any last-minute detours through non-Schengen hubs won’t trigger unexpected immigration issues. VisaHQ’s France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) lets travel teams check entry requirements in real time and arrange emergency visas or travel authorizations within hours, ensuring diverted staff stay compliant while the airspace reshuffle plays out.
Although the DGAC has requisitioned a skeleton staff to handle medical, military and diversion traffic, it admits normal operations cannot resume before 22 December at the earliest. The union has warned of further action in January if the government does not table a revised fatigue-management proposal.
Practically, employers should advise travellers to monitor airline apps, secure hotel rooms near open hubs, and obtain written proof of flight cancellations to support duty-of-care and expense claims. Ground transport options in the Occitanie region remain limited, so early re-routing is essential.
The stoppage is the latest escalation in a long-running dispute over roster reform and mandatory rest periods. Negotiations broke down after a night-long session in Paris, prompting controllers to abandon posts at 04:00. By dawn, departure boards at Montpellier were blank and arriving aircraft were being diverted to Toulouse or Marseille.
For corporate mobility managers, the timing could not be worse. TGV holiday services are already sold out and many companies were relying on regional air links to move staff between manufacturing sites and headquarters before year-end closures. Several firms reported having to move board meetings online at short notice, while relocation teams scrambled to re-book travellers via Toulouse, Girona or Barcelona.
In such fluid circumstances, it pays to verify that any last-minute detours through non-Schengen hubs won’t trigger unexpected immigration issues. VisaHQ’s France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) lets travel teams check entry requirements in real time and arrange emergency visas or travel authorizations within hours, ensuring diverted staff stay compliant while the airspace reshuffle plays out.
Although the DGAC has requisitioned a skeleton staff to handle medical, military and diversion traffic, it admits normal operations cannot resume before 22 December at the earliest. The union has warned of further action in January if the government does not table a revised fatigue-management proposal.
Practically, employers should advise travellers to monitor airline apps, secure hotel rooms near open hubs, and obtain written proof of flight cancellations to support duty-of-care and expense claims. Ground transport options in the Occitanie region remain limited, so early re-routing is essential.
