PSD MPs Adão Silva and Isabel Lopes have submitted a set of questions for the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, requesting explanations in to the delays surrounding the validation of the concession in a bid to prevent the discontinuation of flights.
Sevenair, the company responsible for the regional flights that link Bragança, Vila Real, Viseu, Tires (Cascais) and Portimão, announced last week that the route would be “temporarily” closed from 22 February with the reactivation pending on the tender for the next four years.
The aeronautical group claims that it is “an external situation to the company”, and they are waiting for it “to be resolved at any time”.
Questioned by Lusa, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing clarified that the public service contract signed with Sevenair for the regional air connection has not yet been finalised because the company has not yet sent its full financial reports for auditing.
When the connection, which is subsidised by the state, is running, passengers are able to travel from the north and the south, the interior and the coast, and it is possible to travel from Bragança to Portimão in two hours and 35 minutes at a rate of €47.
Since mid-July 2019, this air link has not stopped in Vila Real due to the “indefinite” closure of the municipal aerodrome.