EasyJet passengers travelling between Switzerland and Portugal at the beginning of October face significant disruption after the Portuguese cabin-crew union SNPVAC confirmed a five-day walk-out from 2 – 6 October 2026. According to EasyJet’s strike notice, the industrial action will affect departures from Lisbon, Porto and Faro as well as return services to Basel-Mulhouse, Zurich and Geneva. Swiss travel portal Travelnews.ch reports that the carrier has already pulled a number of rotations from its reservation system and is proactively e-mailing affected customers with re-booking or refund options. The Portuguese crews are demanding a wage settlement that keeps pace with inflation and better scheduling guarantees. EasyJet—Switzerland’s second-largest short-haul operator by seat capacity—says it is “disappointed” by the strike call but will operate as much of its programme as “is reasonably possible”, using standby crews based outside Portugal and wet-leased capacity where available. Nevertheless, analysts at air data specialist OAG estimate that up to 14,000 seats on the Switzerland-Portugal market could be cancelled over the five-day period. For business travellers, the timing is awkward: the strike overlaps with the last week of the autumn budgeting season, when Swiss corporates traditionally conduct plant visits and supplier audits on the Iberian peninsula. Companies with time-critical movements of personnel are being advised to switch to alternative carriers via Madrid or Barcelona, or to consider Lufthansa Group’s Zurich-Porto service operated by SWISS and Edelweiss. The walk-out also highlights the vulnerability of Switzerland’s highly internationalised economy to labour disputes abroad. With more than 40 % of passenger traffic at Zurich Airport generated by low-cost airlines, travel managers are being urged to keep contingency plans updated. Experts recommend: (1) monitoring EasyJet’s Flight Tracker app daily; (2) avoiding tight connections within Schengen if onward travel is essential; and (3) reminding staff that EU261 compensation does not apply when disruption is caused by strike action of airline staff outside the traveller’s country of departure. Looking ahead, the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA) has signalled that it will keep a close eye on schedule reliability as the winter timetable approaches. Should cancellations continue beyond the notified period, the regulator could require EasyJet to surrender take-off and landing slots to guarantee minimum connectivity between Switzerland and key EU markets.
Source: Travelnews.ch
