Lisbon, Porto and Faro Holiday Flights at Risk After Ground-Handling Shake-Up

Portugal’s busiest airports could be heading for a bumpy winter. A Spanish-led consortium has squeaked past the long-time ground-handling incumbent in a highly technical tender, triggering union alarm bells, a likely court battle and discreet government anxiety over fresh labour unrest at Lisbon, Porto and Faro just months before the peak Christmas travel rush.

Holiday traffic meets board-room arithmetic

The tender itself looks innocuous on paper, yet it decides who controls the invisible army that checks in passengers, loads luggage and guides jets to the gate. Clece/South, a newcomer linked to Iberia, won the preliminary vote of the civil-aviation jury by less than three points, beating Menzies Portugal—better known to travellers as the rescue brand for the insolvent Groundforce. That razor-thin margin now overshadows the 7-year licence, worth an estimated €400 M in fees and wages. Tourism officials fear that any prolonged dispute could ripple through an industry that last year generated 16 % of Portugal’s GDP and carried a record 69 M passengers through national airports.

The tender nobody can ignore

Launched by ANAC in late 2024, the contest attracted six bidders, but only Acciona, Clece, Swissport and Menzies survived the technical screening. What ultimately tilted the scale was an abstract “resource-allocation exercise” that asked each candidate to devise staffing tables for hypothetical surges in baggage and ramp operations. Clece/South scored highest in that spreadsheet simulation, even though both contenders tied on the physical inventory of loaders, tractors and conveyor belts. The result stunned unions, who had expected the proven operator with 3 500 veteran workers to outshine a firm that has never handled a single flight in Portugal.

Four thousand paycheques in the balance

Ground staff have lived through a bankruptcy, a pandemic and multiple wage freezes. In 2024 they finally secured a draft Company Agreement 2026 with Menzies, including indexed pay rises, a higher meal allowance, and tighter limits on temporary contracts. Union leaders warn that if Clece/South takes over, those hard-won clauses could evaporate, forcing 4 000 families back into uncertainty. They also question the Spanish group’s “limited grasp” of Portugal’s sector-specific labour code, citing recent Iberia-related strikes in Madrid and Barcelona as cautionary tales. The Ministry of Infrastructure, while barred by law from meddling in the tender, acknowledges that a messy transition could ignite walkouts, missed connections and reputational damage at airports already juggling capacity constraints.

Who exactly are the rivals?

Menzies inherited the once-iconic Groundforce brand after the latter filed for insolvency in 2021. Backed by Scottish capital, it revamped operations, reached punctuality records above 99 % at Lisbon and plugged a long-standing hole in Faro’s overnight baggage flow. Clece/South, in contrast, is a freshly minted joint venture between facilities giant Clece and South Europe Ground Services, the spin-off that Iberia created after losing licences at Aena-managed terminals. South’s latest annual report touts 31 M passengers handled in Spain and revenues of €305 M, but public filings show scant data on worker retention or legal disputes abroad. Analysts see the Portuguese contract as the group’s springboard to Southern Europe beyond its domestic backyard.

Countdown to clarification

Under procurement rules, Menzies has until early November to lodge a formal appeal. ANAC meanwhile extended current permits until 19 November 2025 to keep planes moving while lawyers argue. Should the preliminary ranking stand, Clece/South would have to absorb hundreds of ramp agents in a TUPE-style transfer, negotiate new collective-bargaining terms and meet service-level benchmarks from day one. Failure on any of those fronts could prompt penalties, even licence revocation. For Portuguese travellers, the immediate advice is simple: watch for possible strike notices during the handover window and build extra time into holiday itineraries. The skies themselves remain clear—what happens on the ground may prove far more turbulent.