Lisbona, Dec. 9, 2025 (Lusa) - The TAP CEO said on Tuesday that the company was prepared for the general strike scheduled for Thursday and expects to carry out a third of its operations, with the main focus on avoiding passenger disruption.

Speaking to journalists, Luís Rodrigues explained that they did not have "the accounts done" for the costs that the airline may incur as a result of the strike.

However, he said the operation plan agreed with the unions is in place, and that passengers have been contacted in advance to avoid surprises at the airport.

"We are not concerned about that. We are concerned that he operation runs as smoothly as possible," he said, stressing that the main objective is to prevent passengers from arriving at the airport and discovering that their flight has been cancelled.

According to the manager, the customer support teams did a fantastic job contacting passengers and proposing changes to their travel dates before or after the strike, to minimise the impact of a strike that no one wants, but that is what it is."

Luís Rodrigues also stated that the "vast majority" of customers accepted the changes: "People want to reach their destinations. In general, it doesn't make much difference to them to go a day earlier or a day later," he added, referring to the option given by the company to reschedule flights up to three days before or after at no extra cost.

On a normal operating day at this time of year, TAP operates around 250 to 260 flights, although the exact number for 11 December is still being adjusted due to changes in minimum services and slot issues.

The CGTP and UGT trade unions called the general strike on 11 December against the proposed revision of the Labour Code and will be the first series of strikes by the two unions since June 2013, when Portugal was under the intervention of the “troika”.

SCR/ADB // ADB.

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