Michael O'Leary has warned that 100,000 passengers may see their flights cancelled during next week, due to a strike of the air traffic control union in France. According to the CEO, it may cost £20 million to the company.

The strike will start on Tuesday 7 October and it is predicted to end in the morning of 10 October.

The strike will not only affect flight from or to France, but also those who need to pass through the France airspace to reach the final destinations, which includes flights in Spain, Italy and Greece.

The CEO of Ryanair calls for the overflights to be protected from the strike, considering that in contrary, it could be an abuse of the free single market. Due to the strike, the company is expecting to cancel about 600 flights in the first two days of the strike.

"That's about 100,000 passengers who will have their flights cancelled needlessly next Wednesday and Thursday," said Michael O’Leary quoted by Sky News. The CEO has also mentioned that the UK will be the country with most affected flights due to the proximity with France.

While supporting the strike of the French workers, O’Leary stated that Eurocontrol, which is a civil-military organisation, should step forward to keep the flights operating.

"It wouldn't stop the French striking, they have the right to strike, and we accept that, but they should be cancelling local French fights, not flights from the UK to Spain or from Italy to Ireland. This is a fundamental breach of the single market," he said.

Michael O’Leary asked the government to pressure the European Union Commission and the French government, so that the overflights can be protected from the strike.

"We demand that our overflights are protected. If British citizens today going to Italy, or we have Spanish visitors wanting to come to London, they should not have their flights disrupted or cancelled," he said.

Other airlines, such as EasyJet, British Airways, Vueling and Lufthansa may also face issues regarding the already scheduled flights.