Corsica's ports and airports blocked by spontaneous social movement

This movement followed the cry of anger on Thursday of the autonomist president of the Executive Council of Corsica, in the face of the reluctance expressed by a representative of the prefect of Corsica on a system allowing the Chamber of Commerce to continue to manage the airports and ports of the island. "It is a declaration of war" by the State, considered Gilles Simeoni.

"All the ports and airports in Corsica have been blocked for several hours by the STC," Laurent Filippi, STC union delegate at the port of Bastia, told AFP.

"There is nothing taking off, nothing landing and nothing leaving or returning from the ports," added the union representative.

A security source and airport sources confirmed these blockages to AFP.

"Due to a social movement by the Corsican Chamber of Commerce today, all flights departing from Bastia-Poretta airport are cancelled," also indicates a voice message broadcast on Thursday afternoon at Bastia airport and transmitted to AFP.

According to the STC, these blockages come after the "unacceptable announcement" by Alexandre Patrou, Secretary General for Corsican Affairs (Sgac), who expressed doubts on Thursday about the creation of two open mixed unions (SMO) for ports and airports by the end of the year. These unions were to grant concessions to the island's CCI so that it can continue to manage the island's ports and airports from January 1, 2025.

Declaring that this arrangement presented "a significant legal risk", Mr Patrou indicated at the extraordinary general meeting of the CCI that this system of joint unions could "not circumvent the call for tenders" provided for any public contract.

Very angry, Gilles Simeoni denounced this "decision that the State has just announced today, on the sly, without warning us and going back on its commitment and its word".

"If the State respects its commitments", these joint unions "will entrust the operation of ports and airports to the CCI by way of concession and this solution guarantees efficiency and employment", he detailed. "If the State goes back on its word, we will not accept it", he hammered home.

In April, the prefect of Corsica recalled the "serious failures" that had been repeated since the end of 2022 at Ajaccio airport in terms of passenger and baggage screening. In order to "urgently remedy" these, the CCI had been placed under reinforced surveillance by the General Directorate of Civil Aviation since April 9.