PARIS — France’s Civil Aviation authority sent out an advisory to airlines making short- and medium-haul flights to Charles de Gaulle Airport to arrive with enough fuel to get home, a spokesman said Saturday.
The advisory is the latest fallout from continuing strikes and protests against plans to raise the country’s retirement age to 62 in an effort to help close budget shortfalls.
A sixth round of nationwide protests is scheduled for Tuesday, a day before the Senate is to vote on the retirement measure, which will then return to both houses because of amendments added during debates.
All 12 of France’s fuel-producing refineries have been hit by strikes that started Tuesday, and numerous fuel depots are blocked, which led to the Civil Aviation advisory.
“They must come with a maximum capacity in their fuel tanks,” the spokesman, Eric Heraud, said in an interview. “Obviously, these instructions apply only to short- and medium-haul flights” of no more than four to five hours because trans-Atlantic flights cannot “double-carry” fuel, he said.
The pipeline from the Atlantic port city of Le Havre that feeds fuel to Charles de Gaulle Airport and the smaller Orly Airport has been working only intermittently. A fresh flow on Saturday extended fuel reserves at Charles de Gaulle until Wednesday, Mr. Heraud said, buying time to arrange “parallel supply means,” most likely by truck.
Orly has 17 days’ worth of available fuel, Mr. Heraud said.
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