A court has ruled that minimum services should be maintained during a strike by ground handlers at Portuguese airports this weekend.
But the Arbitration Court ruling is limited to flights needed only for “critical situations”.
The ruling came after the Portuguese Transport Workers’ Union (Sttamp) called a walk out on August 31 and September 1.
Airports at Lisbon and Porto are expected to be the worst affected but the impact of the strike is described as being “completely unpredictable”.
TAP Air Portugal, British Airways, Ryanair, Jet2.com, Wizz Air, Azores Airlines and Vueling could all be impacted by the industrial action.
The union warned that there would be delays and “numerous flight cancellations” to all destinations operated by airlines assisted by SPdH – Portuguese Handling Services – is a dispute over pay.
The union has assured that essential services including safety and maintenance of equipment and facilities will be maintained.
However, the disruption to regular services is expected to be significant across airports on the mainland together with Madeira and the Azores.
An EasyJet spokesperson said: “As our ground handler in Portugal isn’t impacted by the strike action we are currently planning to operate our schedule as planned but would always advise all customers to check the status of their flights for the latest updates.”