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EasyJet cancels flights to Portugal as cabin staff kick off three-day strike

EasyJet said it cancelled more than 200 flights to and from Portugal from Thursday as cabin crew based in the nation began a threeday strike over working conditions including rotas and overtime.

The disagreement will disrupt travel to and from Portugal at the height of the summer season.

Flight staff union SNPVAC, which called the strike, said more than 90% of Portuguese cabin crew walked out on Thursday. EasyJet put the figure at 73% so far however stated that could increase as the majority of the flights run in the afternoon.

The airline company stated it had actually been required to cancel 232 of the 1,138 flights to and from Portugal that had actually been scheduled to run over the three-day period of the strike.

SNPVAC stated the strike was because of a conflict over an absence of lineup stability, inadequate staffing and pressure to work overtime for commercial functions.

The employees are unhappy with the schedules instability. For example, I do not know if I'll be operating at 5 a.m. or 5 p.m. tomorrow. I can't even prepare my domesticity around the clock, said union representative Ana Dias.

The variety of foreign travelers going to Portugal rose 7.5%. between January and June from a year previously, paving the way for. another record year, with Britons the most significant group in the first. half of the year, carefully followed by visitors from the United. States.

At the height of the busy summertime season, Portugal's. federal government has decreed the requirement for minimum services during the. strike, which should consist of flights to the Atlantic archipelago. of Madeira, Geneva, Luxembourg and London.

EasyJet has 19 aircraft based in Portugal and more than 800. staff members there.

(source: Reuters)