PARIS - FRENCH pilots voted on Saturday to continue a strike which has severely hit the country's flag carrier Air France, the head of their main union said.

SNPL president Jocelyn Smykowski said that 'an overwhelming majority' of 65 per cent of members had backed continuing the strike until midnight on Monday.

The pilots oppose proposed new rules that would end the current requirement for them to retire at 60, forcing them to work until the age of 65.

'The SNPL wants this amendment to be quashed and to open negotiations' with the government, Mr Smykowski said, dismissing a government offer late on Friday to modify the regulations to allow pilots to still retire at 60 if they wish.

Air France said 40 per cent of its pilots were taking part in the industrial action, but the union claimed the number is as high as 70 per cent.

An aide to French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau said he considered the continuation of the strike 'incomprehensible and unjustified'.

Air France passengers suffered further cancellations and delays Saturday as the strike went into a second day.

Air France management said cancellations were in line with expectations at around 30 to 35 per cent of long-haul flights and half of all other flights.

Flights due to take off from Terminal 2F at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport for Beirut, Belgrade, Bologna, Copenhagen and Zagreb as well as the French cities of Lyon, Nantes, Nice and Toulouse, were marked up as 'cancelled' on passenger information screens.

While most flights had been cancelled in advance, some were pulled at the last minute.

Among the long-haul flights due to take off from Terminal 2E, those bound for the United States were hardest hit. Flights to Chicago, Detroit, Houston, New York, Los Angeles and Seattle were all cancelled. -- AFP