“By building a regional airport in Guarda, tourism could be boosted (Serra da Estrela, Douro, Historic Villages, routes, walkways, etc.), the business sector (with a strong focus on logistics and interconnection with the road and rail network, logistical and industrial platforms and future dry port) and the proximity to the diaspora itself (just look at the huge number of emigrants from these border territories and who increasingly travel to Portugal by air).”
Precisely 10 years ago, in a now-defunct local newspaper, I expressed my suggestion/opinion regarding the construction of a regional airport for Guarda. This vision that I have been pursuing for a long time was leveraged by the “Beira Interior Regional Competitiveness Charter”, promoted by the Portuguese Industrial Association in 2008 and which advocated the construction of a structure of that nature in the region.
In the last 15 years, several localities in the Central region have demanded and some still demand an airport structure for their territory. From Covilhã, which saw this claim defeated with the installation of the “Data Center” in the space of the previous aerodrome, passing through Leiria (Monte Real) or Santarém as alternative locations to the new Lisbon airport or even Coimbra, whose theme was one of the promises 2021 local council elections, several municipalities in Central Portugal recognize the added value of capturing infrastructure of this nature for their region.
On the mainland, we find four international airports, namely Lisbon, Porto, Faro and Beja. Now, in addition to the three largest, located on the coast, only the one in Beja is located in the interior, serving exclusively the southern part of the country. North of the Tagus we only find the “Francisco Sá Carneiro”, leaving a huge geographical area not covered, unlike what happens to the south.
In this sense, many will argue that our territories do not have a population that justifies such investment, however, I see things from the opposite perspective. By building a regional airport in Guarda, tourism could be boosted (Serra da Estrela, Douro, Historic Villages, routes, walkways, etc.), the business sector (with a strong focus on logistics and interconnection with the road-rail network, platforms logistics and industrial and future dry port) and the proximity to the diaspora itself (just look at the huge number of emigrants from these border territories and who increasingly travel to Portugal by air).
The provision of regular flights to, for example, Paris (Orly), Bordeaux, Toulouse or Montpellier, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and of course, a daily connection to Lisbon, would bring this region closer to Central Europe and allow the creation of a business ecosystem, enhancing the dynamization of these territories.
And costs??? Well, it is estimated that the new Lisbon airport could cost around 8,000 million euros. The expansion of the Lisbon and Porto meters has already exceeded 750 million. The new hospital in Eastern Lisbon is estimated to cost around 400 million. So many millions are legitimately invested on the coast, however, we cannot forget that the country is not just Lisbon and Porto, because, by investing in the interior, we would be contributing to a more prosperous, cohesive and competitive country.
Guarda airport would certainly be below 100 million euros, a value that is perfectly accommodating in any State Budget and clearly lower than many projects of dubious usefulness that are swarming around the country.
The construction of an airport infrastructure in the Guarda region is an investment that the region needs and which it should never give up.
* The author writes using the old spelling criteria
