“NThere can be no State money in Azores Airlines. The only way to capitalize on SATA is for private capital to enter. This is what is in the restructuring process and this is what we have to continue to promote”, stated the Secretary of Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure.
And he added: “For this reason, following the cancellation of the process, we must move quickly to another privatization process that can be completed within the deadline determined by the European Commission [até 2025]”.
Berta Cabral was speaking at the specialized Economics committee of the Regional Assembly regarding the Plan and Budget of the Azores for 2024, which will be discussed and voted on this month.
The hearing took place after the Regional Government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) announced the cancellation of the Azores Airlines privatization tender to launch a new one, claiming that the company was valued at six million euros at the beginning of the process and is worth now 20 million.
Berta Cabral reinforced the need for Azores Airlines to be capitalized and insisted that the Regional Government “cannot place capital” at risk of this being considered State aid.
“The privatization process does not take place due to any instinctive desire of ours, although we understand that there are matters, especially competitive ones, that must be handed over to the private sector, but there is another additional reason which is the fact that the company needs to be capitalized”, he highlighted , regarding a question from Chega about the sale of the carrier.
When asked by the PSD about forecasts for the next high season, the governor showed confidence in the increase in tourism indicators, but highlighted the unpredictability of the sector.
“The data we have from these first months of the year, growth is in the double digits, 10%, 9% 11%, leads us to believe — and this is what sector agents also tell us — that we will have a promising summer”, he said.
Regarding the reduction of Ryanair’s operations, an issue raised by the PS, the regional secretary stated that “it was very good” that the Government of the Azores managed to ensure that that company “did not leave” the archipelago “because that was the intention”.
Berta Cabral said that Ryanair was proposed to fly from the Azores to Charleroi/Brussels instead of Nuremberg because the German market is already covered by the operation of Lufthansa and Azores Airlines.
“Ryanair, with the reduction of its flights, gave Azores Airlines and TAP the opportunity to completely fill the gap and space left. In the IATA 2023/24 winter we had another 1,200 passengers traveling from the mainland to the Azores”, he stressed.
According to him, the regional secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure presents an investment proposal of 321.8 million euros in the Plan and Budget for this year.
Previously, heard in the Parliamentary Affairs Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, Environment and Sustainable Development, Berta Cabral (who also oversees energy) said that the executive intends to invest 35.9 million euros in the energy sector.
Read Also: Cancellation of privatization of Azores Airlines is “good news”, says PS
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