Portugal General Strike To Ground Flights December 11

Travelers booked into or out of Portugal on December 11, 2025 now face a very high chance that their flights will be canceled or heavily thinned, because a nationwide general strike over labor law reforms is set to hit Portugal general strike flights across all major airports, including Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS), Porto Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport (OPO), and Faro Airport (FAO). The walkout falls in the early festive build up, when transatlantic and European connections via Portugal are already busy. Anyone with tight same day itineraries should assume widespread disruption and start moving trips to surrounding days or rerouting via Spain.

The core change is that the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel, SNPVAC, which represents around 5,000 cabin crew mainly at TAP Air Portugal plus staff at Ryanair, easyJet, and Azores Airlines, has now voted by 82 percent to join the December 11 general strike and is openly warning that most flights at Portuguese airports will be grounded with only minimum services running.

What The December 11 Strike Involves

Portugal's main union confederations, CGTP and UGT, have called a one day general strike for December 11 in protest at planned labor law changes that would ease dismissals and make working hours more flexible. The day will be the first joint nationwide stoppage by the two confederations since 2013, which is why airlines and airports are treating it as a high risk event rather than a routine sector specific strike.

Within aviation, SNPVAC's emergency assembly produced 2,305 votes in favor of joining the strike, 320 votes against, and 177 abstentions out of 2,802 members, confirming that cabin crew at TAP, SATA and Azores Airlines, and easyJet will formally participate if no deal is reached. Ground handling and airport workers represented by unions such as SITAVA have also signaled support, which means both crews and airport operations are likely to be short staffed on the day.

The Portuguese government still has to publish minimum service orders for December 11, but Infrastructure and Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz is already on record saying authorities will try to minimize the impact across airports, rail operator Comboios de Portugal, and metro networks. In practice, minimum service rules usually guarantee only a skeleton set of departures and basic staffing, not a normal schedule.

How Many Flights Are At Risk

New local analysis suggests that at least 498 flights, and likely more than 500, could be at risk on December 11, once the general strike and aviation specific participation are combined. TAP alone has 224 flights scheduled that day, while easyJet has 82 flights, Portugalia 61, SATA 39, and Ryanair at least 28 services from its Porto base, with a further 20 or so expected from Lisbon, Faro, and Madeira once those schedules are fully counted.

To put that into context, Lisbon Humberto Delgado handles roughly 600 flights per day on average when counting arrivals and departures, with TAP operating about 700 departures per week and acting as the dominant hub carrier. A nationwide general strike that removes most cabin crew and some ground staff from the roster on a single Thursday in December will therefore affect a significant share of Portugal's weekly traffic, not just a small slice of the schedule.

Long haul and connecting travelers are particularly exposed. Lisbon is a key bridge between North America and Southern Europe, with direct routes to New York, Newark, Boston, Miami, Toronto, and several other hubs, alongside dense short haul links to Madrid, Paris, London, and Rome. When local feeder and onward connections are canceled or reduced, entire itineraries can collapse even if the transatlantic leg technically operates.

Airport By Airport Expectations

At Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport, travelers should plan for sharply reduced operations throughout the day, clustered around whatever minimum service schedule the government ultimately defines. As SNPVAC has already warned that it will be "very difficult to operate flights on December 11" and that most flights will be grounded, it is reasonable to expect that many TAP and easyJet departures, particularly intra European services, will be canceled or consolidated.

Porto Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport is likely to see heavy disruption because Ryanair's largest Portuguese base is located there, alongside TAP, easyJet, and SATA operations. Faro, Madeira, and Azores gateways such as Ponta Delgada and Funchal will be vulnerable because they rely on relatively small numbers of daily flights, and a handful of cancellations can sever connections entirely for part of the day.

Because the strike is general, not limited to aviation, travelers should also expect knock on effects at metro systems in Lisbon and Porto, municipal buses, ports, and even public sector offices that handle visas or civil paperwork. A smooth reroute that lands you at a quiet airport is still risky if metro lines or bus routes are not running normally into the city.

Background, Why This Strike Matters To Travelers

General strikes in Portugal combine multiple sectors and are usually announced weeks in advance, which gives travelers some time to adapt. This one is driven by opposition to proposed reforms of the labor code that unions say weaken job protection and collective bargaining and that government officials frame as necessary modernization.

From a traveler's perspective, the key differences between a general strike and a small localized stoppage are scale and coordination. Because many public services observe the same strike date, alternatives that might normally absorb disrupted passengers, such as trains, local buses, or ferries, are themselves restricted or operating under their own minimum service plans. That reduces resilience in the system and makes same day workarounds much harder to arrange.

Adept Traveler has already flagged December 11 as one of several high risk strike dates in early December in its overview of December strikes affecting Europe and New Zealand flights, which clusters impacts from Portugal, Italy, France, and other markets into a single calendar. This Portugal specific article adds more detail on aviation exposure and concrete tactics for avoiding misconnects.

For broader context on European labor actions and how they ripple across air and rail networks, you can also refer to Adept Traveler's strikes topic hub, which explains how minimum services, strike notices, and passenger rights work across Europe's main markets.

What This Means For North America And Europe Itineraries

On a typical winter Thursday, dozens of long haul flights from North America and Brazil connect through Lisbon, Porto, and island gateways, then fan out to the rest of Europe, and conversely bring European travelers toward the Americas and Africa. When cabin crew, ground handling, and some air traffic related staff are on strike, these carefully timed banks of flights cannot operate normally.

If you have a through ticket from a North American city such as New York, Boston, Miami, or Toronto to a secondary European destination via Lisbon, any cancellation or retiming of the Lisbon to Europe leg puts the whole itinerary at risk even if the first sector crosses the Atlantic as scheduled. Airlines may prefer to cancel short haul feeders and preserve long haul departures, or vice versa, depending on their crew and aircraft positioning needs, so you should not assume that one part of the itinerary will be protected simply because another part looks full.

For intra European travelers, flights into or out of Portugal from hubs such as Madrid, Barcelona, Paris, London, or Frankfurt can also suffer because aircraft and crew that start or end their day in Portugal may be unable to position correctly on December 11. That creates knock on delays and cancellations before and after the strike window itself.

Rebooking, Refunds, And EU 261

Under Regulation EC 261, passengers whose flights are canceled or heavily delayed due to strikes are usually entitled to duty of care, which includes meals, refreshments, and accommodation where necessary, but cash compensation is more limited when the disruption is linked to a general strike that is considered outside the airline's direct control.

For this specific Portugal general strike, advisory services such as AirHelp already flag that travelers should not expect routine compensation but should still claim hotel, meal, and rebooking support where the airline confirms that they were stranded because of the action. Many carriers are also likely to publish proactive waiver policies that allow one free date or routing change for tickets touching Portugal on December 11, especially for itineraries that can be moved to quieter days earlier or later in the month.

If your ticket is on TAP Air Portugal, keep a close eye on the airline's travel alerts and booking engine in late November and early December. For low cost carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet, monitor both your booking and any app notifications, and be prepared to self manage alternatives quickly once the airline confirms a cancellation or major schedule change.

Practical Steps For Different Traveler Types

Leisure travelers with flexible dates should avoid December 11 completely. If you are still in the planning stage, move departures to December 10 or 12, or shift your routing with a connection via Madrid or Barcelona rather than through Portuguese hubs. If you already hold tickets, check whether your fare conditions or any announced waiver lets you slide your trip by one or two days at no extra cost.

Business travelers on fixed meeting dates should consider arriving a day early and staying an extra night if their schedule forces them to be in Portugal around December 11. For meetings elsewhere in Europe that were routed via Lisbon, Porto, or Faro for convenience, reprice options via Spain, France, or the Netherlands, because the effective cost of a forced overnight during the strike will usually exceed the premium for a more direct route.

Cruise and tour passengers using Portugal as a gateway for departures from Lisbon or as a staging point for travel to Madeira or the Azores should coordinate closely with operators, as some packages may be reblocked around the strike date. Previous port and public sector strikes in Portugal have already shown that operators will adjust embarkation ports or overland transfers when local infrastructure is constrained.

Finally, anyone already in Portugal on December 11 should treat the day as one for staying local. Expect fewer buses, limited metro frequency, and potential delays at taxis and ride shares, along with shorter operating hours at some public buildings and attractions. Build generous time buffers between any essential movements and stay in close contact with your airline or rail operator by app or SMS.

Sources

• Portugal expected to see flight cancellations on December 11
• Mais de 500 voos estão em risco devido à greve geral
• Tripulantes da aviação aprovam adesão à greve geral de 11 de dezembro
• Tripulantes de cabine aprovam adesão à greve geral de 11 de Dezembro
• Greve geral, Governo vai tentar minimizar efeitos em vários setores
• Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport statistics
• December Strikes Hit Europe, New Zealand Flights, Trains
• Strikes in Europe topic hub