Macau, China, Dec. 2 (Lusa) - TAP Air Portugal told Lusa on Tuesday that it would operate on the day of the general strike, 11 December, in accordance with the minimum services agreed with the unions.

"We do not operate based on expectations, but based on the minimum services agreed between the company and the unions," said an official source from TAP on the sidelines of the 50th APAVT National Congress in Macau, when questioned by Lusa about the news in Jornal de Negócios today.

Jornal de Negócios claimed that TAP has blocked the purchase of air travel for 11 December, the day of the general strike.

The newspaper reports that it is not possible to book flights to and from the country on the airline's platform, which is attempting to avoid further aggravating the complicated situation expected at national airports.

Last week, the National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel (SNPVAC) approved joining the general strike. The Civil Aviation Pilots' Union (SPAC) has scheduled an extraordinary general meeting for 5 December, so that its member pilots can decide whether to join the strike.

The general strike on 11 December was called by the CGTP and UGT trade union confederations against the government's draft bill to reform labour legislation. It will be the first strike to bring the two trade union confederations together since June 2013, when Portugal was under the “troika” intervention.

TAP is attending the congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT), which is taking place in Macau until Thursday and has more than 1,000 delegates to discuss the tourism sector.

MSF/ADB // ADB.

Lusa