The Mayor of Horta yesterday expressed his confidence in the firefighters of the Faial Volunteer Firefighters Humanitarian Association (AHBVF) to ensure increased mobility at Horta airport.

“I trust the Faial firefighters will make additional efforts to ensure that the extra flights essential for people to travel to Faial and also to leave our island can take place,” said Carlos Ferreira, quoted in a press release, after contacting the AHBVF Command and Management and the various entities involved in the process.

Regarding the airport’s operating hours, which are currently set for 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Carlos Ferreira believes that the infrastructure management entity, ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal, should extend the normal operating hours, at least from June to September 2026, to 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., hiring all the necessary professionals and services for this purpose, so that the extraordinary extension is the exception and not the rule.

“Horta Airport must better respond to the needs of Faial, ensuring conditions for the economic, tourist, and social development of our island,” the mayor emphasized.

According to the statement, the mayor of Faial had already met with the island’s Fire Department to assess the association’s difficulties, particularly in recruiting volunteers, and to discuss measures to enhance the value of volunteering and increase the attractiveness of the firefighter’s mission in Faial. In 2023, the Horta City Council implemented a social benefits program for Faial firefighters, which includes the award of three scholarships for higher education to firefighters and/or their descendants under the “Bolsa 12” program and three scholarships for the children of firefighters who died in service or from an illness contracted while performing their duties, as well as exemption from urban planning license fees for their own permanent residence, the granting of social tariffs for water and waste, initial legal and psychological support in proceedings motivated by events occurring in the exercise of their duties, free legal and administrative support for spouses and direct descendants in social proceedings arising from the death of a firefighter in the exercise of their duties, as well as a funeral allowance for active firefighters up to the amount of €500.

In Correio dos Açores-Natalino Vivieros, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.