More summer travel blues as 60 flights have been canceled at Portugal’s Lisbon airport

Take and change

Underground workers in Portugal are underpaid and are taking the opportunity to press their demands during the busiest travel days of the year.

Dennis the Jackal

Around 60 flights were canceled at Lisbon airport on Sunday, the last day of a strike by staff since Friday, further disrupting summer travel at Portugal’s main airports, data from national airports operator ANA showed.

Workers at handling company Portway want better holiday pay and more career advancement. The ANA website showed that 31 arrivals and 28 departures were canceled at Lisbon, Portugal’s busiest airport on Sunday.

Pedro Figueredo, spokesman for the National Union of Civil Aviation Workers (SINTAC), told Reuters that about 90% of portway ramp operations workers at Lisbon and Porto airports were participating in the three-day strike.

SINTAC said it expected 70 to 80 flights to Lisbon and 30 to 40 flights to Porto airport to be canceled on Sunday.

ANA reported no flight cancellations in Porto, Faro – the tourism-dependent Algarve region – or on the island of Madeira.

“In the coming days, our union will evaluate the results of this strike and we may receive news of a fight,” Figueiredo said, without specifying what they might be.

Crews help airlines with baggage and push planes onto the tarmac.

Many airport ground workers have protested across Europe this summer to demand higher pay, due to rising demand for air travel and staff shortages after most of the COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

Meanwhile, airlines are facing skyrocketing fuel prices and airspace closures over the war in Ukraine.

The strike took place on the busiest weekend of the year, with foreign and Portuguese tourists still traveling for their winter holidays.

Portway, owned by French group Vinci, said the “irresponsible” strike would threaten Portugal’s tourism sector, which accounted for 15% of GDP before the Covid-19 pandemic. (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Catherine Evans)

This article was written by Sergio Goncalves of Reuters and has been licensed by IndustryDive’s content marketplace. Please direct all license inquiries to him [email protected].