Portuguese airports at standstill due to ground handlers strike

Nearly 600 flights were canceled over the weekend at Portuguese airports due to ground handling personnel strike.

The workers of ground-handling company Groundforce protested against the unstable and untimely payment of wages and other pecuniary components. 

The protest was organized by the Airport Handling Technicians Union (STHA). The union accused the company of failing to provide appropriate payments to their workers since February 2021.

260 flights were canceled on July 17, and 327 on July 18, 2021, at Lisbon (LIS) and Porto (OPO), the two largest airports of Portugal, Portuguese airport authority ANA reports.

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Only low-cost airlines that use Terminal 2 of LIS were able to continue operations, as they employ different ground-handling companies.

50.1% of Groundforce is owned by Pasogal Group and 49.9% by TAP Group.