Swedish Linn, 30, found herself in the middle of the flight chaos

Linn Rydell, 30, was supposed to fly from the Riviera, home to Sweden, on Thursday.

But a text message put a stop to that.

Strike – you have to rebook your trip yourself, the message said.

– We were supposed to meet the family this weekend. Nothing will happen with that, she says. Norwegian CEO: “Not that we should fly less.”

Linn Rydell has lived in Antibes for eight years. Right now her father is visiting from Sweden.

But tomorrow, Thursday, both of them – along with Linn Rydell’s sons Léon, 5, and Théo, 2 – would fly to Sweden.

A text message changed those plans.

– It was lucky that I had my phone on me. It just said that the flight was cancelled. Then we got another message that we had to go in and change flights ourselves, says Linn Rydell.

She and her father entered their different booking numbers on the airline Norwegian. Apparently, more travelers did that.

– There was a plane that was supposed to stop in Helsinki on Thursday. Then a flight on Friday, and one on Saturday. But suddenly everyone was gone. It was all over in five minutes, she says.

On Sunday there was a flight to Sweden that still had seats left.

– We booked it straight away. Then we called Norwegian, it took two hours to arrive and then they said it was due to a strike, says Linn Rydell.

According to the information she received over the phone, they can rebook for free if the strike is called off or interrupted before Sunday.

– But it was very strange because a friend of mine is flying with SAS tomorrow and that plane is leaving.

French air traffic controllers have announced a strike from Thursday, July 3, and for a few days to come.

“Within fifteen minutes, everything was gone”

The French Civil Aviation Authority has urged airlines to halve the number of flights from Nice, among others, and also reduce traffic from and to Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier. This is reported by the Reuters news agency.

Nice Airport, France’s third largest serving the summer destination of the Riviera, warns on its website of “severe disruptions” in traffic.

– Imagine if I hadn’t seen the text message. Within fifteen minutes, everything was gone, says Linn Rydell.

Now her father has had to book himself into a hotel for extra nights. The family reunion they had planned for this weekend will not happen.

– For me and my sons, it’s okay because we live here. But it feels sad that we can’t see our family, and I hope it works out on Sunday, because dad has to go home and work.

Charlotte Holmbergh, press manager for Norwegian Sweden, confirms that flights to and from Nice and Paris have been canceled.

– We take it day by day. It’s hard to deal with because it’s not caused by us.

She confirms that the company encourages its customers to try to find alternative travel on their own.

– Sometimes it can be easier for the traveler to find alternatives themselves. But you can also call our customer service, she says.

– All affected travelers will receive information directly from us.