Nearly 300,000 air travellers have had their plans disrupted after a crippling strike by French air traffic controllers forced the cancellation of 1,500 flights over two days.

EasyJet scrapped 274 flights between yesterday and today, including 150 on the second day alone, according to Daily Mail.

Ryanair said it cancelled 468 services, affecting around 70,000 passengers.

British Airways deployed larger aircraft in an effort to ease the disruption, while Air France and Lufthansa were forced to cut back their flight schedules over the two-day strike.

Around 40% of flights at Paris airports were cancelled today, just as the European summer holidays are set to begin—one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

The strike, led by two French unions protesting alleged understaffing and “toxic management,” has caused major disruption to flights across western Europe.

Families have been hit especially hard, with many scrambling to rearrange travel plans as French schools break up for summer and holiday departures ramp up.

Eurostar passengers faced fresh disruption this morning, with delays blamed on “operational issues” and crowded scenes at London’s St Pancras station.

In Paris, services were also affected by a “technical problem,” extended maintenance work, and heavy congestion at Gare du Nord.

This followed a series of cancellations last night between the UK and France after an earlier track incident.