Another 321 flights cancelled in Lisbon
JN, published on the mainland, reports that Lisbon airport yesterday day was calmer than Saturday, despite the cancellation of 321 of the 515 flights scheduled for today at Lisbon airport, according to ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, due to the strike by Groundforce workers. There are passengers who have been there since Friday trying to find solutions and many complaints from TAP’s customer service.
JN interviews Sekou Traoure, a native of Guinea, who had been at the airport since Friday night. He had been on a flight from Guinea to Germany by TAP with a stopover in Lisbon and had seen his connection cancelled. ” TAP didn’t pay me anything, didn’t pay for hotel or food, nor for the new COVID-19 test. I had to wash my clothes by hand to be clean and sleep at the airport.” Sekou says this is the last time he flies on TAP. A friend who flew from Guinea by AirFrance, making another stopover, is already at his destination, Germany, where he lives and works.
Israel Carlos and Fernanda Carlos have a nine-year-old son and have waited five hours to retest for COVID-19. They spent €130 on the three tests. Due to the cancellation of Saturday’s flight to Brazil, they will lose the appointments they have scheduled for Monday, as well as the connections, complaining about the fact that TAP claims that it does not have to reimburse them because of a Groundforce strike. “I didn’t buy the ticket with third parties. I bought it with TAP, so it is TAP that has to guarantee it”, claims Israel Carlos. The family calculates that they will only be able to fly on Monday or Tuesday, which is too late for their appointments.
Elizabeth Ruest and Eric Labrie, a Canadian couple from Quebec, saw their connecting flight to Athens by TAP cancelled on Saturday at 10.25 am. They spent several hours at the airport, queuing and making phone calls to TAP. Elizabeth and Eric take daily medication from their checked-in suitcase: she for the thyroid, Eric for the heart. They had no way to buy such drugs without a prescription and they accuse a TAP employee of insensitivity. “Go to a pharmacy and buy it”, they will have been told, claiming that the bags could not leave the plane.
This Sunday, after five hours in line, they managed to get TAP to reschedule its flights to Athens by AEGEAN, on the last two tickets of that flight, at one in the morning on Monday. “We stayed at a hotel near here tonight, but I’m sure TAP will pay, it has to pay,” says Elizabeth, who visited Portugal for the second time, having really enjoyed the country. But for Eric, for the first time in Europe, this problem at the airport was a shock.
Kevin Valencia had a flight from Lisbon to New York, connecting through Amsterdam on TAP. He saw his flight cancelled on Saturday, and the only solution TAP offered him was a connecting flight for Tuesday, which would be too late. After landing in Lisbon, Saturday morning, at 9 am, coming from Barcelona, he spent two hours confined on the plane with almost no information. Kevin ended up buying a new ticket from his own pocket by Transavia to go to Amsterdam still on Sunday and then try to resolve the situation from there. “I was here on vacation and it was incredible but this airport doesn’t make me want to go back”, he lamented. Kevin had to pay for new Covid tests, one night at the hotel and has no guarantees that he will be reimbursed. In total, he spent €200 more than expected.
Others were luckier, with Madeira faring better than Lisbon
Other passengers had more luck – those who flew on companies that are serviced by Portway: Manuela António and Dominga Almeida were going to fly by TAAG to Angola, a flight assured by Portway, for which they suffered the effects of the GroundForce strike. Andreia Prata and André Lima, with two children, were also going to Luanda on the same TAAG flight. “We checked with the company before coming to the airport, but we realized that everything was fine because Portway took care of the bags.” The couple claims to always fly with TAAG because they have a direct flight from Porto. came to Lisbon this time but it was an exception.
Elisa Lopes, Cape Verdean, doctor, saw her flight from 9 am on Saturday to Praia, Cape Verde, cancelled. She had to do another Covid test from her own pocket. She said that on Saturday she was at the airport from 7 am with almost no information until late afternoon. She already had medical appointments in Cape Verde, but she had to cancel all the patients. “I spent two hours trying to call TAP and then they hung up, today I came here to take the test to fly on Monday”, without any guarantees that I will be able to do so.
In Madeira just 12 flights were lost to the strike yesterday – still a lot, but nothing like the chaos in Lisbon.
Thanks to PeterA for the link.
A new tab has been added to the top of each page with a link to resources dealing with COVID-19 in Madeira – this covers the latest government regulations on travel to the island, how to get a PCR test, and many other links that will be useful to people wanting to travel to and from Madeira
COVID-19 in Madeira: daily updates can be found in an earlier post
Vaccinations in Madeira: updates can be found in an earlier post
