The flight schedule at the airports of Lisbon and Porto was disrupted today, and a hundred flights were canceled due to the strike of ground transport employees, which will last until Sunday, the airport operator ANA (ANA) reported concerning Agence France-Presse.
The worst hit was budget airline Easyjet, which yesterday canceled numerous flights to and from Portugal’s two main airports due to a protest by employees of the transport company Portway, a subsidiary of the airport operator.
Everything is calm in Lisbon, as most passengers on the canceled flights were warned, an ANA spokesman said.
According to the unions, participation in this strike for a pay rise in Porto is 90% at Lisbon Airport and 85% in Porto.
To a lesser extent, the protest affects airports in Funchal on the island of Madeira and Faro in the Algarve tourist region in the south of the country.
The strikers are demanding an immediate pay rise to increase their purchasing power, the National Union of Civil Aviation Workers (SINTAC) said in a statement. Trade unions accuse the company of hindering career growth and not complying with labor laws regarding vacation pay.
Portway, which employs around 2,500 people, is 100 percent owned by ANA, a subsidiary of the French Vinci group, which won the Portuguese airport concession in 2013.