Ryanair’s chief executive, Michael O'Leary, was in combative form again while predicting that Brexit will have "a chaotic effect on British aviation," warning British tourists about the possibility of the shutting down of all flights between the UK and EU destinations ‘for several months.’
According O'Leary at a press conference in Dublin, said British companies fly to the European Union thanks to the Open Skies agreement, which will be in doubt if the UK opts for a ‘hard Brexit.’
"The end of the Open Skies agreement would leave UK companies without a legal basis to fly to the European Union, and in the opposite direction, which would lead to chaos in the UK aviation industry. There could be a total closure of flights between the UK and European destinations for several months.”
O'Leary also considers that this situation is being taken advantage of by some of the biggest European airlines, like Lufthansa or Air France, that have lobbied to undermine British aviation so as to profit from the closure of flights to and from the United Kingdom.
"It will not be a light Brexit, it's going to be an aggressive Brexit and the Brits do not have a Plan B," warned O’Leary who is convinced that Brussels wants the UK to 'suffer.' Because of this, Ryanair already is making plans to transfer its entire British fleet to European airports.
Michael O'Leary warned British tourists that in the future they will have to travel by boat if they want to take vacations in countries such as Portugal, adding that "perhaps in this way the British finally will realise that leaving the European Union was an idiotic idea."
"It's good to talk about border control, but when that means we'll have to go on vacation in Scotland instead of Spain or Portugal, maybe this will make the British change their minds," said the always controversial business leader.
In calmer mood, Portugal’s Minister of Planning and Infrastructures, Pedro Marques, said that the use of Beja airport as a back-up Lisbon’s overcrowded airport, "is not a good solution" saying the construction of a new airport in Montijo is a better option.
Taking part in the Portugal Air Summit in Ponte de Sor, Marques said of Beja airport, "It is an insufficient alternative, I would say that it is not a good solution for a second airport because it is too far from Lisbon," said Marques with startling insight.
Clearly inspired, the minister added that the time needed to reach the capital is excessive compared to other complementary airports that exist Europe, which are less than 30 minutes away - Beja is 90 minutes away from Lisbon.”
Pushed on the Montijo airport plan, Marques revealed that the Government hopes to move forward with the work "next year" after completing environmental and safety studies, so that “it is possible to have Montijo airport operating in 2021 or 2022.”
The ‘Montijo option’ “will boost job creation by 20,000 direct and indirect jobs and have a positive impact on "the entire metropolitan area of Lisbon and the adjacent regions, including the Alentejo," said Marques, answering a question that he was not asked.
The minister is well aware that Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado airport is approaching its capacity of 23 million passengers and, with tourism on the increase, this level will be reached this summer.
The success of Lisbon as a destination brings severe passenger capacity problems and the addition of Montijo, which the government originally said would be operating in 2018, will ease the pressure on the capital’s airport but not until years of interim problems for passengers, staff and airlines.
The minister only now shows that the 2018 deadline for Montijo was wildly optimistic and, after years of avoiding the issue, Montijo will have to be thrown together in a rush even to meet this latest '2021 or 2022' deadline.
This lack of joined-up planning shows the minister’s and the government’s incompetence and inability to define capacity problems and refine solutions with a sensible time-frame.
For Marques, his level of competence was met this week when announcing a new roundabout for Estoi earlier this week, as if this was a gift from Lisbon and that the region should be forever grateful.
The lamentable lack of investment in infrastructure may have enabled this government to hit its European financial targets but leaves looming problems as Portugal’s tourism economy leads the country out of recession but is hampered by airport capacity in the capital.
In the Algarve, there is no rail link envisaged to Faro airport, an over-congested EN125 route across the region and a Via do Infante motorway that costs the taxpayer more money now that it is tolled.
To hear that Montijo, where there already is a military airport, will take another four of five years to convert, is shameful and will affect the country's ability to hit tourism targets.
