Air France cancels half of its flights because of strike

Air France expects to cancel nearly half its "long haul" flights Tuesday because of a strike, the airline said in a news release, and more than a quarter of the carrier's remaining scheduled flights are expected not to get off the ground, the CNN reports.

Air France said it cancelled around 20 percent of its flights on Monday as pilots protested against government plans to make strikers give at least two days' notice when they planned to stop work.

At airports such as Toulouse in the southwest, up to half of all flights were cancelled. A spokesman for the airline said further cancellations were possible as the day wore on.

The country's main pilot union, SNPL, said 50 percent of pilots stopped work on the first day of a strike over the government decree, which will last until Thursday night, reports the Reuters.

According to AFP the leading French carrier said it managed to fly 85 percent of its long-haul flights and 75 percent of short- and medium-haul flights on Monday.

"As staff are not obliged to inform in advance of their intention to strike, and to limit disruption caused by last-minute cancellations, on 7 February Air France expects to operate over 50 percent of long-haul flights," it said in a statement.da.

Air France urged customers to postpone their travel to after the strike finishes, and sent out more than 25,000 emails and mobile phone text messages to clients warning them their flight had been cancelled or delayed, the source reports.