Hundreds of flights have been cancelled and thousands of travellers disrupted due to an air traffic controller strike in France planned for Thursday and Friday (3 and 4 July).

More than 900 scheduled flights have been cancelled so far on Thursday ¨C equating to 22 per cent of all arrivals and 22 per cent of all scheduled departures from French airports, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Low-cost carrier Ryanair on Thursday confirmed it had cancelled 170 flights due to the strike, which is expected to affect 30,000 travellers, while easyJet has reportedly cancelled 274 flights.

Ryanair warned the strike will also affect all French overflights, with CEO Michael O¡¯Leary reigniting calls for the European Commission to ¡°take urgent action¡± to reform EU air traffic control services.

¡°It is not acceptable that overflights over French airspace en route to their destination are being cancelled/delayed as a result of yet another French ATC strike. It makes no sense and is abundantly unfair on EU passengers and families going on holidays,¡±??O¡¯Leary said in a statement.

Travel disruption is expected to continue on Friday, with the French Civil Aviation Authority advising airlines to reduce flight schedules by 50 per cent at Nice airports, by 40 per cent at Paris CDG and Orly and by 30 per cent at airports in Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of UK-based Advantage Travel Partnership, advised travellers to speak with their travel agent or check their flight status online before travelling to the airport.?

¡°Under UK Law, when flights are delayed or cancelled, airlines have a duty to look after their passengers be that by providing meals, accommodation with an obligation of getting you to your destination as soon as possible, even if that¡¯s on an alternative airline,¡± she said.

¡°However, customers can also choose to have a full refund if this is preferred. Extra compensation however tends to be offered when the airline is at fault.¡±