LONDON — Clients travelling to Europe this summer could be inconvenienced by a wave of air traffic controller (ATC) strikes in countries including France, Italy and Portugal.

London’s Daily Mail says this week’s French ATC strike is the 51st such strike in the past seven years, and the 11th in the past 12 weeks.  Hundreds of flights are cancelled or delayed because of the strike action.

And according to TravelMole, eight more strikes are scheduled in Italy and Portugal over the next four weeks, putting up to 1,000 flights at risk of cancellation.

“European travellers face a summer of chaos, disruption and ruined holidays due to ATC strikes,” said Thomas Reynaert, Managing Director of A4E, a European airline lobbying group.