More than 1,500 flights have been cancelled on July 3-4, affecting nearly 300,000 passengers, due to a strike by French air traffic controllers, European industry lobby Airlines for Europe said in a statement.

An air traffic controllers' strike in France is affecting more than 500,000 travellers at the start of the summer holidays, Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Friday. Of the 1,000 air traffic controllers scheduled to be on duty,

The timing of the strike is especially acute, with Friday being the last day of school in France before the summer vacation and many families contemplating an early departure