The ongoing intervention at the Ponta Delgada airport will create two more boarding gates, which will allow the infrastructure to be “decongested” in the periods of “greatest influx” expected for the high season, the Government of the Azores said on Tuesday.
The Regional Government of the Azores is aware that the intervention is underway and will allow the creation of two more ‘doors’ [portas] of passenger boarding, which will allow the current departure hall to be decongested at times of greatest influx of traffic”, highlighted the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure, in response to questions from the Portuguese agency.
In March, ANA Aeroportos revealed that it was preparing a “temporary intervention” at João Paulo II airport to “guarantee the best conditions” for passengers during the summer.
ANA prepares “temporary intervention” to improve Ponta Delgada airport
The airport manager’s announcement came after The Government of the Azores and the airline SATA warn of possible limitations due to the increase in flights in the summer to São Miguel.
The regional secretary, supervised by Berta Cabral, said that the Executive will be “attentive” and “attentive to the possible limitations that may occur in the different infrastructures of the region.”
The Government of the Azores (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) also highlighted that the sata groupthe largest operator of the airport, and the infrastructure directorate are making “operational changes at various levels that will improve the efficiency of the airport and air transport subsystems”.
The regional secretariat also announced that it will hold a meeting at “early July” with the administration of ANA Aeroportos and the “users’ committee” of the Ponta Delgada airport “to analyze the planned investments and those considered necessary for the infrastructure.”
The Azorean executive rejected that The image of the Azores as a tourist destination is affected by the limitations of this airport.
“The tourist destination of Azores does not consist of the Ponta Delgada airport or any individualized infrastructure, but of the entire experience that we offer to those who visit us,” he defended.
According to the government, this experience “will not be questioned by the specific limitations that may be felt” in what is the main gateway for tourists to the archipelago.
“IATA summer season [sigla em inglês da Associação Internacional de Transportes Aéreos], mainly in the months of July and August, is a high traffic season for most European airports. It would be unpleasant to find an empty terminal, as happened in 2020 and 2021, “said the guardianship.
On March 4, the then head of Transport for the Government of the Azores, Mota Borges, anticipated “restrictions” in the areas of ‘check-in’, security and arrival of passengers at the Ponta Delgada airport in summer.considering it necessary to relaunch investments that “in recent years have been in limbo.”
On February 24, in the parliament of the Azores, the president of SATA, Luís Rodrigues, warned that the Ponta Delgada airport “will explode everywhere”, due to the lack of “capacity to process” all the flights scheduled for the summer .
Source: Observadora
