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Etihad cancels flights on key European route amid national strike

Flights suspended as a national strike disrupts airport operations

Last updated: December 11, 2025 | 07:53

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

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Etihad has increased its aircraft fleet target from a previous 170 planes to 200 jets by 2030.

Etihad Airways

Dubai: Etihad Airways has cancelled its flights between Abu Dhabi and Lisbon today following widespread industrial action in Portugal that is expected to disrupt air travel, public transport and essential services across the country.

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The airline announced that flight EY099 from Abu Dhabi Zayed International Airport to Lisbon Portela International Airport, and the return service EY100, have both been cancelled on Thursday, 11 December. The carrier cited a “National Industrial Action affecting all airlines in Lisbon airport.”

“We apologise for this inconvenience, our teams are doing their best to assist with your travel arrangements,” Etihad said in a statement. The carrier urged affected passengers to update their contact details at etihad.com/contactme to receive the latest travel updates and assistance.

Portugal braces for its first general strike in a decade

The cancellations come as Portugal faces its first general strike since 2013, a move expected to paralyse key services across the nation. The coordinated walkout, organised by the country’s two largest union confederations CGTP and UGT, is aimed at opposing proposed labour reforms that unions say will erode workers’ rights and job security.

The government plans to make it easier for companies to dismiss staff and expand the scope of “essential services” that must operate during strikes. Labour leaders argue the measures would “weaken collective bargaining and limit the right to protest” while benefiting employers already buoyed by a strong economic rebound.

Also Read: Emirates cancels flights on key European route amid national strike

Teachers, healthcare workers, municipal employees and transport operators are taking part in the strike, which is expected to bring much of Portugal’s public sector to a halt.

Within the aviation sector, the civil aviation union SNPVAC, representing more than 5,000 cabin crew members across TAP Air Portugal, Ryanair, easyJet and Azores Airlines, has joined the protest. Airport operations in Lisbon and Porto are facing severe disruptions as flight schedules unravel.

Etihad reaffirmed that “the safety and comfort of our guests and crew is our number one priority,” apologising for the impact on travel plans.

Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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