By Liv Clarke

Copyright manchestereveningnews

The boss of Ryanair has said the airline could be forced to cancel 600 flights next week due to French Air Traffic Control strikes – impacting around 100,000 passengers. Members of the SNCTA union are set to walk out from Tuesday October 7 until Friday, October 10 in a dispute over pay and working conditions. Strikes had been initially planned for Thursday, September 18 and Friday, September 19 but they were called off due to the collapse of the French government. Now the industrial action next week is set to last even longer and won’t just cause disruption to flights to and from France, but to routes flying over the country – so-called ‘overflights’ – to destinations across Europe, including Spain and Greece. Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said the industrial action would cost Ryanair around £20million, Sky News reports. He said the airline is expecting to cancel around 600 flights on the first two days of the strikes. He told the Sky Money blog: “That’s about 100,000 passengers who will have their flights cancelled needlessly next Wednesday and Thursday.” He added: “On any given day at the moment, we operate about 3,500 flights and about 900 of those flights cross over French airspace and about two thirds of those, around 600 flights, are cancelled every day there’s an air traffic control strike. “The UK is the country whose flights get cancelled most because of the geographic proximity to France.” He called for Eurocontrol, a civil-military organisation that supports air traffic management across Europe, to step in and look after the airspace in order for flights to keep operating. He also called on the government to “put pressure” on the EU Commission and the French government to protect overflights during industrial action. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE A Department of Transport spokesperson told Sky News: “Airspace is sovereign, and it is for each state to decide how best to manage their own. “We know strikes can cause disruption for passengers and airlines and airports have robust resilience plans in place to minimise their impact.” Holidaymakers due to fly next week are urged to monitor the status of their flight and check with their airline before they travel. Travellers could face longer waits at the airport and are urged to arrive for their flights with plenty of time. If your flight is delayed or cancelled as a result of the air traffic control strike then you may not be entitled to compensation as it is not considered within control of the airline. For more of today’s top stories, click here.