Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Air France-KLM Group SA, Europe's biggest airline, canceled about 30 percent of its flights from French airports today because of a strike by cabin crew, stranding thousands of passengers.

``We are able to maintain about 70 percent of our flights,'' Air France spokeswoman Marina Tymen said in a phone interview. Disruptions are more dramatic in Paris airports, which are used as hubs for connections, she said without elaborating.

``We're asking our clients who don't have confirmation of their flights from Paris to simply refrain from coming to Paris airports,'' Tymen said. ``Our ground personnel are under a lot of pressure from passengers.''

Eighty-four percent of the company's cabin crews have joined the strike, demanding pay raises and night bonuses, the CGT union said in a press release yesterday. Tymen, who declined to confirm the figure, said the action hasn't weakened since yesterday.

The Roissy, France-based airline said it had to cancel some flights because of crew shortages and is trying to re-route passengers with other airlines including its SkyTeam alliance partners. The strikes stranded thousands of passengers in Paris as they waited for connections or started journeys as French school holidays began.

`Total Chaos'

``I can't take it anymore,'' said Veronique Bignet, an employee at French insurance company Matmut, whose flight home to Toulouse, in the south of France, was canceled the night before. ``It's total chaos.''

Bignet had driven 131 kilometers to Rouen, northwest of Paris, for the night and returned to Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport this morning to catch a 10:20 a.m. flight she was rebooked on. At 11 a.m., she was still waiting as she and thousands of other passengers were moved outside the airport building by the police because of suspect luggage.

Air France said Friday it sued three striking flight attendants' unions and pledged to maintain at least 70 percent of scheduled services. The strike is planned to last through Oct. 29, the unions have said.

The strike forced the cancellation of 54 percent of the airline's long-haul flights from Roissy airport, Le Figaro reported today.

The company said it will reimburse customers for cancellations.

Union Negotiations

The French carrier has been negotiating with unions since June on the renewal of a collective agreement on pay and conditions. The current starting salary for an Air France flight attendant is 1,540 euros ($2,200) a month before tax, according to the CGT union.

A group of five unions negotiating with the company today voted unanimously to carry on the strike, they said in a joint e- mailed statement. Management's proposals haven't met their demands, they said.

The strike is the second action affecting French transport in less than two weeks. Service on trains and metros in Paris and Lyon and buses in all major cities was disrupted on Oct. 18 and 19 after unions representing public workers hit the streets to oppose President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to cut back their pension privileges.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris at achassany@bloomberg.net ; Andrea Rothman in Paris at