Route || It is all systems go for the air link to connect Portimão with Bragança in the north – via Cascais, Viseu and Vila Real.
Following a successful emergency response simulation, Portimão aerodrome has received the level 5 rating it needs from the National Civil Aviation Institute to take part in the route, and now a tender will go out to (try and) find an airline to run it.
The news comes after the government approved a three-year €7.8 million subsidy plan to support the link.
As Lusa explains, the plan is similar to the one behind the loss-making Bragança-Lisbon service, suspended in 2012.
For 15 years, the route operated for a little over €2.5 million per year. The way it was set up, the more passengers flights had the less money the state paid – but it almost never broke even.
Thus in November 2012, the European Union (EU) called a halt to the scheme claiming it was no longer justifiable due to improved road connections.
Lusa explains that the government thinks otherwise and maintains the air link is a question of public interest.
It remains to be seen whether any airline is brave enough to take it on.
Caption: As part of the air link plans, an emergency response simulation took place at the Portimão aerodrome recently
