"Social mobility allowance is for all Azoreans, regardless of their island of departure," says Luís Quintanilha
The Regional Director for Transport assured today that the new air accessibility model is "the same on all the islands," regardless of the gateway that is used to leave or enter the Azores.
Luís Quintanilha also stressed that the "social mobility allowance is for all Azoreans, regardless of their island of depart," rejecting the statements made by the leader of CDS/PP Açores on the alleged discrimination between passengers wishing to travel between Terceira and Porto.
Speaking to journalists, the Regional Director assured that residents and students can travel to the desired destination "via the direct route Terceira-Porto or via another gateway, in this specific case Ponta Delgada-Porto, through a free transfer flight."
With regard to both options, Luís Quintanilha stressed the daily frequency of these flight connections, with the exception of Saturday.
The Regional Director for Transport stated that the Regional Government has never allocated any kind of financial support to the low-cost airlines that have chosen to operate in the routes between Mainland Portugal and Ponta Delgada. The government official added that the Government cannot "to airlines a certain operation for a certain island."
Moreover, Luís Quintanilha stressed that "there is already a weekly frequency in the flight connections to Porto, as it happened in the past. Therefore, there is no reduction in the number of flights, as claimed MP Artur Lima."