Pilot Strike in Portugal Prompts Cancelled Flights

Lisbon: TAP Air Portugal pilots are staging a 24-hour strike over work conditions, prompting the cancellation of flights on Saturday for the Portuguese flag carrier.

TAP spokesman Antonio Monteiro says the state-owned airline has cancelled 36 of the 350 flights that were originally scheduled for Saturday.

He adds that some 25,000 customers had already been forced to change their date of travel.

The pilots, who called the strike for all day Saturday, say their working conditions have deteriorated ahead of the airline's planned privatisation.