easyJet Portugal strike, 2–6 October 2026: cancellations, refunds and compensation

What is happening

SNPVAC, Portugal’s union of civil aviation flight crew, gave notice that easyJet’s cabin crew based in Portugal will strike on 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 October 2026. The crews work for the Portuguese branch of easyJet (“EasyJet – Airline Company Limited – Sucursal em Portugal”) at the Lisbon, Porto and Faro bases. easyJet and the union could not agree minimum services, so on 25 September Portugal’s Government set them by order: a defined list of flights has to operate on every strike day. The union estimated that around 500 scheduled flights could be affected before minimum services were taken into account.

A second strike window, 19–23 December 2026, has been announced in the same notice — see the December page.

Which flights are protected by minimum services

The Government order names routes, not flight numbers, so it tells you which connections will keep some service — not whether your particular flight will fly:

• Madeira: two daily Lisbon–Funchal rotations and one daily Porto–Funchal rotation; Porto–Porto Santo on 4 and 6 October.
• Switzerland: three daily rotations in total, chosen from among Lisbon–Geneva, Lisbon–Basel, Lisbon–Zurich, Faro–Geneva and Porto–Geneva (15 over the five days). That is three for all five routes together, not three each.
• France: three daily rotations chosen from among Lisbon–Nantes, Lisbon–Bordeaux, Porto–Nantes, Porto–Bordeaux, Porto–Lyon, Porto–Nice, Porto–Paris Orly, Faro–Nantes and Faro–Lyon.
• London: one daily Lisbon–London rotation (the order does not name the London airport).
• Luxembourg: one daily rotation chosen from Lisbon–Luxembourg and Porto–Luxembourg.

Everything else operated by Portugal-based crew on those days may be cancelled or delayed, including the return legs into Portugal. easyJet decides which flights it runs, and it may also cancel in advance.

Is a cabin crew strike an extraordinary circumstance?

No — not when it is the airline’s own crew. The Court of Justice ruled in Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20, 23 March 2021) that a strike called by a trade union of the operating airline’s own staff, with the notice national law requires, to press that airline’s workers’ demands, is not an extraordinary circumstance. This strike fits that description: SNPVAC called it, with prior notice, over easyJet cabin crew pay and conditions. So easyJet cannot avoid compensation simply by pointing to the strike. Compensation still depends on how much notice you had and on what easyJet offered you instead (below), and on the strike actually being the reason your flight was disrupted.

If your easyJet flight is cancelled

You always have the choice between a refund of the ticket (paid within seven days, in money — vouchers only if you agree) and re-routing to your destination at the earliest opportunity or at a later date that suits you. That holds whatever the cause.

Compensation (€250, €400 or €600 per passenger, by distance) then depends on when easyJet told you:

• 14 days or more before departure: no compensation — the refund or re-routing choice remains.
• 7 to 14 days before: compensation, unless easyJet offered a flight leaving no more than 2 hours earlier and arriving less than 4 hours later than planned.
• Less than 7 days before: compensation, unless the new flight left no more than 1 hour earlier and arrived less than 2 hours later.

The strike was announced on 17 September, so it is the date of easyJet’s message to you that matters. These are the cut-off dates:

easyJet has to prove when it told you. Keep the email or app notification with its timestamp.

If your flight is delayed

For compensation a delay counts at arrival: from 3 hours late at your destination, it is due on the same terms as a cancellation, because a strike by easyJet’s own crew does not excuse it. Care counts from departure: meals and drinks are owed once departure is 2 hours late on flights up to 1,500 km, and 3 hours late on flights of 1,500–3,500 km. From 5 hours’ delay you can give up the trip and get your money back.

If easyJet offers you another flight

Accepting re-routing does not give up your compensation: it is the timing of the new flight that matters (the windows above). If the replacement arrives within 2 hours (up to 1,500 km) or 3 hours (1,500–3,500 km) of the original time, the compensation can be halved. If easyJet’s own next flight is days away, re-routing can mean another airline or another route at easyJet’s cost — the Commission’s guidelines say so expressly. Ask for it in writing.

Meals, hotels and transport while you wait

Care is owed whatever the cause, strike or not: meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to the wait, a hotel and the transfer to it when the new flight is the next day or later, and two phone calls or emails. If easyJet does not provide it at the airport, buy what is reasonable and keep the receipts — the Court of Justice has held the airline must repay reasonable, necessary costs.

What to keep as evidence

1. The cancellation or delay message, with its date and time.
2. Your booking confirmation and boarding pass (or screenshot of the booking).
3. The reason easyJet gave — “industrial action” or “strike” in writing is useful.
4. Any rebooking offer and the times of the replacement flight.
5. Receipts for meals, hotel, transport and any new ticket you bought yourself.

Lisbon (LIS)

easyJet’s Lisbon base carries the widest set of protected routes in the minimum-services order: Funchal twice a day, a share of the Swiss pool (Geneva, Basel, Zurich), Nantes and Bordeaux, one London rotation and a Luxembourg rotation. Lisbon is also TAP’s hub, so on the main routes a same-day seat on another airline often exists — and when easyJet’s own next flight is much later, re-routing on another carrier is part of what it owes.

Porto (OPO)

At Porto the order protects one daily Funchal rotation, Porto Santo on 4 and 6 October, Geneva (from the shared Swiss pool), five French routes (Nantes, Bordeaux, Lyon, Nice, Paris Orly) and a Luxembourg rotation. Porto–Geneva is 1,309 km, which puts it in the €250 band.

Faro (FAO)

Faro’s protected easyJet routes are Geneva (from the shared Swiss pool), Nantes and Lyon. Early October is the end of the Algarve season and some routes have few alternatives; if easyJet re-routes you via another airport serving the same city, it must pay the transfer (Art. 8(3)).

Flights to and from Switzerland, the UK and elsewhere

Departures from Portugal and from anywhere in the EU are covered by EU261 whichever easyJet company operated the aircraft. A flight from Geneva or Zurich falls under Switzerland’s application of the same Regulation, which Swiss courts read in the light of — but are not bound by — later EU rulings. Basel EuroAirport lies on French soil, so a Basel departure is an EU departure under EU261. A flight from the UK to Portugal falls under UK261, where Airhelp v SAS is persuasive rather than binding because it was decided after 2020. A flight into Portugal from outside Europe (Morocco, Cape Verde) is covered only if the airline that operated it holds an EU licence — the operating airline is printed on your boarding pass.

For a flight from Switzerland, claim from easyJet first. If it has not answered within six weeks, or refuses, you can report the case to the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA). FOCA can open proceedings against the airline but cannot order it to pay you; for payment, the route is a court.

How Horvera works out your case

The check below asks for your route, what happened and when easyJet told you, and applies the Regulation in force on your flight date. It tells you separately whether compensation, a refund, re-routing and expenses apply — they are different rights and one can be owed when another is not. The check is free.