João Oliveira, European deputy from the PCP, questioned Brussels about the “pressure from the European Commission for the privatization of Azores Airlines.”
The communist recalls that the “outermost region of the Azores has significant needs for regular air connections to mainland Portugal” and that “Ryanair recently stopped flying to the Azores because it was refused an increase in the public subsidies it receives.”
For this reason, João Oliveira says he fears that TAP may “stop flying to the Azores as a result of privatization”, even though the PS validated the Government’s sale of 49.9% of the carrier’s capital by guaranteeing that the routes to the islands would be maintained.
Estimating an annual expenditure of 100 million euros by the Government to “support flights to the Azores”, João Oliveira attacks the “destroyed and privatized Azores Airlines” and highlights that there are “serious doubts about who will ensure connections to the Azores and at what cost.”
The MEP even states that the “The European Commission has exerted brutal pressure for the privatization of Azores Airlines, imposing fines even without the regional government having received any purchase proposal that would be considered acceptable.”
In this sense, he questions how Europe can “safeguard social and territorial cohesion after privatizations” and even asks European officials whether they will “abandon the pressure for the privatization of Azores Airlines.”
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