The Portugal Guides

Menzies Aviation Strike to Hit All Portuguese Airports 25–28 July

· 2 min read Travel News
Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport terminal

Contents

  1. What Ground Handlers Do
  2. Timing and Peak Traffic
  3. What to Do Before You Travel

Workers at Menzies Aviation, one of the main ground handling companies at Portuguese airports, have called a four-day strike from Saturday 25 July through Tuesday 28 July. The action covers all major airports in Portugal: Lisbon (LIS), Porto (OPO), Faro (FAO), Funchal in Madeira (FNC), and the Azores airports.

What Ground Handlers Do

Ground handling covers the services that happen between a plane landing and taking off again - baggage handling, aircraft marshalling, refuelling support, and passenger loading assistance. A strike by ground crews does not automatically ground flights, but it typically causes significant delays. Airlines often have to operate with reduced capacity, juggle ground slots, and in some cases cancel services they cannot staff on the ground.

Timing and Peak Traffic

The dates sit directly in the peak of the Portuguese summer season. Faro airport is at maximum capacity during this window serving Algarve holidays, Lisbon handles high volumes of transatlantic and European connections, and Porto is busy with summer leisure traffic. Madeira and the Azores are also at their seasonal peak.

The combination of a four-day strike and peak-week volumes means disruption is likely to be disproportionate to the number of workers involved.

What to Do Before You Travel

Check your flight status: Contact your airline or check their app in the 48 hours before departure. Airlines are required to notify you of significant changes under EU Regulation EC 261/2004.

Know your EU rights: If your flight is cancelled or delayed more than three hours and the cause is not deemed extraordinary, you are entitled to compensation of between €250 and €600 per passenger depending on flight distance, plus meals and accommodation for long delays. Industrial action by an airline’s own contracted ground handlers has been found in multiple rulings to fall within the airline’s operational responsibility rather than extraordinary circumstances - meaning you may have a compensation claim even if the airline argues otherwise.

Give yourself time: If you are transiting through Lisbon or Porto to a connection, add buffer. Missed connections caused by the operating carrier’s delay are also covered under EC 261.

Travel insurance: Check whether your policy covers disruption caused by third-party ground handler strikes. Policies vary significantly on this point.

For more on travelling through Portugal’s main hub, see our Lisbon airport guide. If your trip takes you through Lisbon, Porto, or Faro during this window, build time contingency into any connections or onward transport.