France strikes: Where are the French feeling the pinch?

Airports and flights

Lionel Cironneau/AP
A advertising board is seen at the empty Nice airport in southern France on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010. It's showdown time for President Nicolas Sarkozy and France's labor unions as they try to stop his government from raising the retirement age by two years to save money.

French aviation officials on Monday asked airlines to cut half of the flights in and out of Paris and 30 percent of flights at all other French airports in anticipation of an expected strike of French airport personnel, The New York Times reported. The reduction will begin Tuesday.

Because of the shutdown of many oil pipelines, aviation officials have also been urging flights to come in with enough fuel for the return flight. Already, according to the Times, international departures have been forced to leave without adequate fuel, necessitating an extra stop en-route.

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