“These are obscene prices”, declared PSD deputy Bruno Melim in the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira.

The question was raised by the Social Democratic parliamentarian Carlos Rodrigues, who stated that “a person from Madeira who intends to come home at Christmas will pay €1,143 to fly with TAP”.

The deputies recalled that these prices are charged by an airline whose share capital is 72.5 percent owned by the State, considering that the Government of the Republic looks at Portugal “as starting in Braga and ending at the tip of Sagres”, without assuming its Atlantic dimension.

Bruno Melim indicated that the prices demanded by TAP at Christmas are “two and a half times more expensive than in an English company”, so students from Madeira who attend educational establishments in the continent are only able to return to the region at this time due to the student programme “Insular”.

Based on this programme implemented by the Regional Government, students residing in Madeira only pay €65 for trips between the island and the mainland.

The deputy referred that the State Budget for 2021 includes funds for the mobility subsidy only for air travel, but refuses to solve the problem of maritime connections with the continent, placing this financial responsibility firmly on the Regional Government.

The parliamentary leader of PS / Madeira, Miguel Iglésias, admitted that he agreed with the criticisms aimed at TAP and considered it “a shame what you have to pay” when a person wants to travel at this time, so he proposed that the parties in the region “work together on this matter, to try to solve the problem”.