French flights back to normal after strike by air traffic controllers

French air traffic back to normal after strike

PARIS — Airplane travel is back to normal in France after a strike by air traffic controllers.

France’s civil aviation authority says strikers returned to work early Thursday. National carrier Air France says flights are operating as normal.

A day earlier, hundreds of flights in France were canceled and smaller airports were shut down because of a strike by air traffic controllers worried about a plan to unify control of European air space.

The Single European Sky project is meant to ensure greater efficiency across European air borders and deal with projected traffic increases.

But strikers fear it could cost jobs. Under the plan, the 27 separate air traffic systems now operating in the European Union would be reduced to nine hubs.