Flight operations at Stansted Airport are expected to return to normal today (Thursday) after French air traffic controllers called off their strike.

Passengers travelling through the Uttlesford transport hub have been experiencing delays and flight cancellations since Tuesday.

Ryanair and easyJet were among the airlines affected by the industrial action, which had originally been expected to last until Monday, in protest against budget cuts.

However a Ryanair spokesman confirmed this morning that the strike had been called off.

He said: “We have been advised that the French ATC strike has been cancelled with effect from midnight Wednesday (June 25). All Ryanair scheduled flights on Thursday 26 will operate as normal. All booked customers should proceed to the departure airport as normal.”

Airports across the UK and Europe had experienced disruption as a result of the walkout. Air traffic management firm Eurocontrol estimated there would be 14,000 hours of delays during the six-day strike.

On Tuesday, Ryanair cancelled 200 flights, including services to and from Stansted, Bristol, Edinburgh, Dublin and Liverpool airports. Yesterday about 15 per cent of the airline’s 1,600 daily flights were cancelled, with delays of up to six hours allocated to Ryanair flights operating to and from France, and also flying over France.

All passengers affected by the cancellations were due to be contacted by email or text message and offered a choice of a later flight or full refund.