The Chamber of Vila do Porto appealed this Tuesday to the Government of the Republic to intercede with ANA and NAV to resolve the “constraints” at the airport on the island of Santa Maria, which have caused the cancellation of flights.
At a press conference, held at the municipal headquarters, the mayor, the socialist Bárbara Chaves, spoke about the “restrictions” on “accessibility” to the island of the Azoresthat have caused the cancellation of flights with the justification of the “inoperability of the equipment” at the airport.
The president of the single municipality of Santa María said that she formally questioned NAV Portugal “about the operability of its equipment, taking into account that they are justifications for limiting passenger scales” to the island.
The municipality also asked ANA Aeroportos to “understand what time the airport is” in Santa María, reminding importance of the island in hosting technical stopovers.
We must not forget that this airport served Portugal for 70 years and we want to continue serving Portugal. We want to continue receiving these technical scales and receive this private aviation market”, said Bárbara Chaves.
The mayor also revealed that she requested a meeting with the Minister of Infrastructure, Pedro Nuno Santos, and appealed to the Government of the Republic to “take care” to resolve the situation.
We decided to officiate the Government of the Republic to intercede with these entities [ANA e NAV]to help us overcome this situation”, he stressed.
Bárbara Chaves said that she also questioned the Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) to “understand the understanding of the executive” after the prior notice of the airport workers’ strike, marked by the National Union of Civil Aviation Workers (Syntac). for the period of the Maré de Agosto festivities (from August 19 to 21).
During this very important weekend for us, at the time of the Maré de Agosto festival, as we do not have a ship to make the stopover for passengers, what is the opportunity for those who want to come and spend the weekend a week in Santa Maria?” he asked. .
The mayor of Vila do Porto also recalled that the current Azorean executive suppressed the maritime passenger connection with Santa Maríaacknowledging that the SATA carrier is at the “limit”, but arguing that this only occurs due to changes in maritime transport.
It is unfortunate what is happening lately in Santa Maria. In terms of flights, it is true that we have more flights with stopovers, but then there are smaller flights, such as the [aviões] Q-200 that do not carry the same number of people as other aircraft”, he argued.
In August 2021, the Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) approved the tender that leaves the islands of the eastern group (São Miguel and Santa Maria) without public maritime transport service of passengers and automobiles, because the seasonal operation was restricted to the islands of the central group (Faial, Pico, São Jorge, Terceira and Graciosa).
Source: Observadora
