The strike by Air France pilots over plans to expand services at budget airline Transavia has cost the company €500m, the airline said on Wednesday.

A large number of Air France pilots went on strike in protest at the plan, leading to the cancellation of half the flights over a two week period.

The impact on the third quarter is put at around €350m, including the cost of transferring passengers to competing airlines. September passenger bookings were down 16%.

The strike has also had a knock-on impact on the final quarter of the year in the form of fewer bookings, the company said.

The strike a few days ago when the company dropped the plans to expand Transavia into a competitor for low cost airlines such as Easyjet.