Up to 50,000 Ryanair passengers are facing disruption today due to a strike by Air Traffic Controllers in France.

The carrier says more than 300 flights have been cancelled.

The Irish airline says even though it is French controllers that are striking, most disrupted passengers are not flying to or from France but overfly French airspace en-route to their destination.

"French law unfairly protects domestic flights which means French flights are protected but non-French flights get cancelled," Ryanair said in a statement.

It is again calling on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to take "urgent action to protect overflights, which she has failed to do for the last five years".

"EU citizens’ freedom of movement is being denied by these ATC strikes," it said.

Ryanair's chief executive Michael O'Leary

Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary said the rest of Europe shouldn't have to suffer.

"French air traffic controllers are free to go on strike, that’s their right, but we should be cancelling French flights, not flights leaving Ireland, going to Italy, or flights from Germany to Spain or Scandinavia to Portugal," he said.

"The European Commission under Ursula von der Leyen has failed for five years to take any action to protect overflights and the single market for air travel.

"We're again calling on her to take action to protect overflights which will eliminate over 90% of these flight cancellations.

"We can’t have the skies over Europe repeatedly closed because French Air Traffic Controllers are going on strike," he added.

Ryanair said its petition - 'Protect Overflights: Keep EU Skies Open' - has over 2.1 million signatures.

Main image: A Ryanair logo is seen on an Android mobile device with the word 'Cancelled' in the background in July 2018. Image: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy