Paulo Cafôfo presented a draft resolution that recommends the Government of the Republic “ensure the completion of the works at Porto Santo airport.”
“Works and investments for Porto Santo Airport. These are commitments that have to be fulfilled and not eternally postponed. The concessionaire, ANA, integrated into the VINCI universe, has obligations. But there is also a responsibility on the part of the Government of the Republic,” says the socialist deputy.
As the granting entity, the central government “has the duty to supervise, demand, and monitor. It has a duty to ensure that the concessionaire fulfills what it is obliged to. And that is what this project does, to demand that the Government of the Republic fulfill its role and force the concessionaire to fulfill theirs.”
Paulo Cafôfo points out another related issue: the airport taxes.
“Airport taxes practiced at the airports of Madeira and Porto Santo, today represent an increased cost for passengers and for the competitiveness of the Region. On an island and outermost region, where air mobility is not a luxury, but a basic need for connection to the outside, it makes no sense to maintain rates that make travel more expensive, make it difficult to capture new routes, reduce the attractiveness of the destination, and directly penalise residents, our diaspora, tourists, and the economy.”
The PS does not accept that ANA’s profits grow and the revenues accumulated from fees are not reflected in airport infrastructure investments.”
The works at Porto Airport Santo are, he says, part of a “more robust regional response to the constraints of Madeira Airport.”
“We cannot accept that, every time there are constraints, we improvise an answer. We cannot have a contingency plan that boils down to distributing mattresses. Porto Santo Airport should be assumed as a strategic infrastructure alternative to Madeira Airport”.
An alternative that will only be “truly effective if it is integrated into a contingency plan with a fast and organised maritime connection between Porto Santo and Caniçal, allowing passengers to be forwarded safely, quickly, and effectively.”
A contingency plan “worthy of the name must provide clear information to passengers, adequate assistance, articulation with airlines, baggage management, logistical support, accommodation when needed, and organised transportation.”
“We want the Government of the Republic to exercise its supervisory powers vis-à-vis ANA and VINCI. That imposes a clear schedule, with phases, deadlines, and commitments. And that a mechanism for coordination between the Government of the Republic, ANAC, ANA/VINCI, Regional Government, and other relevant entities, to monitor these works and the airport response of the Region,” he concludes.
During the last storm, there were images of Porto Santo Airport showing rainwater dripping into buckets.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
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