With the amount of pressure laid at its door, TAP has confirmed that it will no longer apply the controversial €30 rate increase on air travel during the Christmas and New Year season, between Madeira and mainland Portugal.
The initial decision of the air carrier was highly contested, as it would further aggravate the high costs of flying between the two regions; this would also badly affect many Madeiran students, who were at risk of spending Christmas away from home due to unaffordable prices.
TAP’s decision came after the Regional Government stepped in, quickly objecting to the commercial move made without prior notice, especially during a time when many students and visitors plan to return to the Region for Christmas. Following various communications and efforts by the Regional Secretary with the company, Eduardo Jesus was informed today by TAP’s CEO that the fee would no longer be applied.
Eduardo Jesus admits to having been satisfied, stressing that the outcome “is exactly what was intended.”
“The governor mentioned that the Madeiran Executive had presented these arguments during recent discussions with the airline’s administration, which ultimately responded positively to the concerns raised. “Today, we received confirmation that TAP will not impose this surcharge and that prices have returned to their previous levels. We have already verified this — TAP’s website no longer refers to this rate — which means our efforts to raise awareness have succeeded,” he stated.
Eduardo Jesus took the opportunity to publicly thank TAP’s management, emphasizing their swift response. “We maintained very intense contact over the weekend, yesterday, and today, which made it possible, in a short period of time, to avoid this additional charge,” concluded the Regional Secretary.
“These travel costs, deemed entirely unjustified within the national territory, already exceed the maximum eligible limit under the Social Mobility Allowance (SSM) for round-trip or one-way tickets for residents of the Autonomous Region of Madeira and displaced students. This situation places an additional burden not only on state funds through the SSM but also on passengers’ budgets, who will have to cover the extra costs beyond what the SSM covers,” concluded the executive’s statement.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
