The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Ponta Delgada (CCIPD), in the Azores, defended this Thursday the immediate interruption of the privatization of Azores Airlines and the opening of a new process that allows “incorporate new information” Is “correct vicissitudes”.
In a statement, the business association of the islands of São Miguel and Santa María defends that “the ongoing process be immediately interrupted and a new one started, with the speed recommended by the time objectives imposed by the European Commission.”
The CCIPD emphasizes that “it has followed with the utmost attention the entire privatization process” of Azores Airlines, highlighting the Importance of public companies for the region.“either for the services it provides, or for the contingencies that it has already generated and may still generate for the public budget.”
“For many years, the CCIPD has intervened to defend the development of a sensible accessibility policy in the Azores. without the uncontrolled depletion of the public budgetsupported by all Azoreans, for each island, including those where CCIPD members carry out activities, which comprise the space where almost 70% of all economic activity in the Azores takes place, for the benefits and costs inherent to them”, reads the note.
For the business association, it is necessary to start a new privatization process of Azores Airlinesresponsible for connections with the outside of the archipelago, which allows “incorporating new and positive information” and “correcting vicissitudes of current competition that can be avoided, without preventing current competitors from presenting themselves again by improving their responses.”
The board of directors of SATA Groupwho resigns, has already sent his opinion on the privatization process of Azores Airlines to the regional government, expressing “reservations about the NewTour MS Aviation consortium and the limitations of the competitor.”
The competition jury, chaired by economist Augusto Mateus, maintained in the final report the decision to accept a single competitor, but admitted reservations about the capacity of the Newtour MS Aviation consortium to guarantee the viability of the company.
Last week, the regional secretary of Mobility, Berta Cabral, stated that “the Government Council will decide and it will be soon.”
The SATA Group also has, for connections between the Azores islands, the SATA Air Azores.
Source: Observadora
