From Friday, the 14th of August, the Vila Baleira Hotels & Resorts Groups new Cascais to Porto Santo tourist initiative will commence.
Weekly charter flights, operated in partnership with airline Sevenair, will continue until the 19th of September and, subject to demand, will also connect with local airports of Bragança, Viseu and Portimão. In a company statement, General Director, Bruno Martins said “We are reinforcing national tourism through the creation of alternative routes so that Portuguese holidaymakers can enjoy and relax in our hotels.
He went on to say that with the gradual resumption of air connections to Porto Santo, and at a time when many tourist destinations are closed or require a 14-day quarantine period on the passengers return, we have to adapt and look for new markets, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to offer something new.
The new route will start on Friday the 14th of August and operate for a period of six weeks (14th, 22nd and 29th August and 5th, 12th and 19th of September). The route will be operated by a ‘BAE Jetstream 32 aircraft, which can carry 16 passengers, each taking a maximum of 20 kilos of luggage. Flights depart Cascais airport at 11:20 am, and provide air connections for passengers travelling from Bragança, Viseu and Portimão. Journey time is approximately two hours and twenty minutes.
Please note that this package, like other tour packages, requires all its customers to undertake a Covid-19 PCR test three days before departure.
Both the groups hotels in Porto Santo and Funchal have been awarded the ‘Clean & Safe’ seal and the arrangement includes an insurance policy that guarantees assistance and repatriation expenses in case a guest contracts Covid-19 during their stay, as well as the offer of the diagnostic test.
Bruno Martins explained that “the Vila Baleira Hotels & Resorts group offers directly or indirectly solutions for conducting free tests at the source”. Anyone who wants to stay at the hotel in Porto Santo or Funchal can take the test in one of the places registered by the Regional Government of Madeira, through the Institute of Health Administration, or, alternatively, use one of the places available to customers, as part of their reservation, through tour operators registered with Vila Baleira Hotels or with reservations made directly on the website www.vilabaleira.comor at the Vila Baleira Hotels reservation centre.
“Porto Santo beach was considered one of the safest in Europe and we want the Portuguese to have the opportunity to enjoy this destination of excellence where positive cases of Covid-19 are residual,” stressed Bruno Martins, who firmly believes that this new initiative will make Porto Santo more accessible as a national tourist destination.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
