The representatives of the Horta and Pico airport groups are dissatisfied with the minimum number of weekly flights to Lisbon set out in the tender specifications for the public service obligations.
According to Antena 1/Açores, the tender specifications require the winning bidder to make at least six weekly connections to Horta in the summer and four in the winter. For Pico, the minimum imposed is three trips in the summer and two in the winter.
Additional flights are planned at times of higher demand, such as “religious festivities or sporting or cultural events,” but in these cases, the occupancy rate must not be “less than 75%”.
Interviewed by Antena 1/Açores, Dejalme Vargas, from the Horta Airport Group, said the figure was “unsatisfactory”.
“At the moment, we already have 10 flights in the summer, at certain times. We have the requirement to go to 14, which we’ve already had, and what we’re being offered is six flights with 50,000 seats. Last year we used 75,000 seats in the summer. So [that’s] 25,000 fewer seats,” he said.
“Our hope is that the airline that wins this public service obligation will be able to meet Faial’s needs, because everyone remembers that Azores Airlines, as a general rule, can’t,” he added.

Bruno Rodrigues, from the Pico Airport Group, also said he feared that whoever wins the tender will stick to the “minimums”.
“Our concern is that there has been progress in recent years in the number of seats offered to the island of Pico – there are currently five flights a week in the high season – and there was an expectation, even made public by various Pico entities, that this flight would become [daily] in the summer,” he said.
The tender also covers the route between Lisbon and Santa Maria, which has at least two weekly flights all year round.
For the first time, public service obligations are also being extended to routes between Terceira and Madeira, with a minimum of two flights a week, all year round.
Between São Miguel and Madeira, the specifications provide at least three flights a week during the summer and two in the winter.
The specifications also specify the type of aircraft that must be used on these routes. Except for the trips between São Miguel and Madeira, which can be operated by a turboprop aircraft, such as the Dash Q400, the rest must be provided by a turbojet aircraft, such as the A320.
The tender for the public service obligations, which has a value of 45 million euros over five years, was launched on March 15.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

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