Portugal airport strike: UK holidaymakers warned as 'numerous flight cancellations' to hit airports in hotspots including Porto and Lisbon this week

The Groundforce workers' strike is scheduled for August 31 and September 1 and will cause "severe constraints" at airports. The Portuguese Transport Workers' Union, Sttamp, said that particularly Porto and Lisbon will be the worst impacted and the effects of the strike are "currently completely unpredictable".

EasyJet, TAP Air Portugal, British Airways, Ryanair, Wizz Air UK, Azores Airlines S.A and Vueling Airlines could all be impacted by the strike as they all take passengers to the Portuguese national airports. The union guaranteed that there would be delays and "numerous flight cancellations" to all destinations operated by airlines assisted by SPdH - Portuguese Handling Services, such as TAP.

The Sttamp gave a strike notice, which covers all national airports, that read: "from 00:00 hours on August 31, 2024, until midnight on September 1, 2024". Sttamp advised passengers with trips scheduled for the days of the strike confirm their travel with the airline they are set to fly with. Workers at the handling company SPdH have called the strike to demand higher wages.

The strike was called against "the existence of base salaries below the national minimum wage". There will also be protests against "the systematic use of workers from temporary employment agencies" and "overtime in breach of the legal limits in force".

Sttamp justified the disruption by saying that "once again, regardless of the reason or origin that weakens the company", it will always be "the workers who foot the bill". The union has assured that essential services including safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities will be maintained. However, the disruption to regular services is expected to be significant.