The Portuguese Hotel Association (AHP) hopes that the Independent Technical Commission studying the solution for Lisbon’s new airport will present alternatives to respond to the increase in tourist demand until the new infrastructure is completed.
In a conversation with Lusa about the presentation of the report that the Independent Technical Commission (CTI) will prepare on Tuesday and which will be the basis for a political decision, but which should be left to the government that will emerge after the future elections after the resignation of Prime Minister Bernardo Trindade – given the history of the file – underestimates this delay between António Costa’s announcement and the elections scheduled for March.
“Temporarily adding five months to fifty years does not make much sense,” begins the president of AHP, emphasizing that “what is important is that in the decision, in the announcement, Plan B and Plan C in terms of response to need for demand reinforcement”.
The preliminary technical report, prepared by CTI, is now ready and is a next step in a topic that is more than 50 years old and has already been the subject of several studies.
“Interest in Portugal is growing. Airlines are looking for capacity to fly planes to Portugal (…) and the Portuguese Hotel Association and I have reiterated this aspect at the Independent Technical Commission: also present plans ‘Bs’ until the final implementation of the airport,” he believes.
“The works of Portela [aeroporto de Lisboa]the use of other infrastructures, all this is essential to ensure that Portugal cannot afford to be without demand,” he adds.
In view of the unexpected events of recent years, from the Covid-19 pandemic to two conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, to the situation of inflation and high interest rates, the President of AHP issues a warning.
“We don’t know what will happen in the coming years. This year, 2023 is generally a positive year from a revenue perspective. We are all happy, the agents [económicos] they are happy. Why? Because we recovered faster than we expected, even after two wars,” he recalls.
An achievement that the person responsible, who was once Secretary of State for Tourism, attributes to the work done by Portugal over the years to increase its visibility [enquanto destino turístico]the quality of the services it provides”.
“Today we are satisfied and when the world looks at us it looks with confidence and that is good. Now I cannot limit the question. I cannot say ‘well done, what have we achieved (…) and we don’t have the capacity to grow given these numbers [de capacidade aeroportuária atual]’. And that is what worries us,” he explains.
The government commissioned the Independent Technical Commission (CTI) to analyze five hypotheses for the Lisbon airport solution (Portela + Montijo; Montijo + Portela; Alcochete; Portela + Santarém; Santarém), but expected that other options could be added.
After a first phase of reception and analysis of other proposals, the options Portela + Alcochete, Portela + Pegões, Rio Frio + Poceirão and Pegões were added to the study.
AHP “is a national association, it is an association with members and representatives throughout the country and I cannot interrupt this dynamic [de crescimento a que se assiste]. In principle, I must continue to ensure that the autonomous regions, in Porto, in the Algarve, in Lisbon, in the Alentejo, in the center, actually get growth,” says the representative.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, said on Saturday that he will formalize the resignation of the government next Thursday, December 7, and appointed the dissolution of Parliament on January 15.
‘Let’s look at the glass as half full. In other words, let’s come up with an answer to the alternatives that will be presented to the country until the completion of the new infrastructure. And that’s what we told the Independent Technical Commission. would like to see” the CTI present, concludes Bernardo Trindade.
Source: DN
