Baggage handlers strike sees 40 flights cancelled

Menzies baggage handlers have scheduled four-day strikes at Lisbon airport over all weekends throughout August.

A situation only made worse on Saturday as a bomb hoax, which together with the strike, saw more than 40 flights cancelled and delays in the baggage reclaim halls.

Carlos Araújo, leader of SIMA (Metal and Allied Industries Union) told Lusa early yesterday evening that “there were 25 flights cancelled on departure and 19 cancelled on arrival”.

According to Araújo, the strike caused more disruption to the capital’s airport than it would have had it not coincided with the emergency landing of a SATA Azores Airlines plane due to a bomb threat. He lamented this unfortunate coincidence. But possibly as a result of it, 20 to 30 flights suffered from passengers’ luggage not being loaded.

“On Sunday, the snowball effect will continue and on Monday there will be a total breakdown of service. We were forced into this situation by the intransigence of the current management (SPdH/Menzies”, he added.

ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal has not been quite so dramatic, telling Lusa late last night that the strike had caused ‘some delays’ and the cancellation of (only) 20 flights.

ANA was advising passengers to contact their airline in advance to confirm the status of their flight before heading to the airport.
In turn, in a statement released yesterday afternoon, Menzies Aviation indicated that until that point (ie just before the emergency landing) “the strike had caused only minimal disruption in Lisbon, with no impact on other stopovers.”

Menzies Aviation is a UK company based in Edinburgh and part of the Menzies Group founded in 1883 as a booksellers, becoming a household name as John Menzies, stationers before branching out into other areas such as transport.

Image: LUSA
Autor: FILIPE AMORIM