French Pension Reform Strike to Hit Air and Rail Travel on Tuesday

Paris — Air and train travel are set to be heavily disrupted across France on Tuesday as workers embark on renewed strike action targeting moves to reform the country's state pension system, the rail and air travel authorities have announced.

France's civil aviation authority said it had requested airlines to cut 20% of flights at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on Tuesday and Wednesday.

At the airports Paris-Orly, Beauvais, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Nantes, Marseille, Montpellier, Nice and Toulouse, 30% of flights are to be cancelled.

The state rail company SNCF said on Monday that rail travel across the country would be badly hit. Cross-border trains will also be affected.

The German state rail company Deutsche Bahn said all cross-border high-speed ICE and TGV services between the two countries would be cancelled. Certain services of the private Thalys company will also be cut.

The pension reforms are central to President Emmanuel Macron's agenda in a country with one of the earliest retirement ages in the world. As well as well increasing the pensionable age, the government wants to increase the minimum monthly pension to around €1,200 ($1,300).

A pension will continue to be paid out without deductions at the age of 67 regardless of the number of years the person has paid into the system. Many people in France already work past 62 if they have not paid in long enough for a full pension.

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