Aero Vip, known locally for aerial advertising, flight charters, tourist flights and skydiving trips in the Algarve, is the only candidate that submitted a proposal to receive a €7.8 million subsidy for operating an airlink between Portimão and Bragança via Cascais, Viseu and Vila Real.
The air link is expected to start this summer, according to a spokesman from the Seven Air Group which owns Aero Vip. The proposal now is under consideration by the Selection Board of the National Civil Aviation Authority.
Aero Vip used to run the Bragança to Lisbon service until the route was cancelled in November 2012 when the Government had to suspend the operation using the argument that Brussels was 'not prepared to authorise the financing model' that has been in place for 15 years - i.e. the subsidy was not in accord with EU competition and subsidy rules.
The airline has a deal, also underwritten, to fly between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo that started in 2014 and will end in 2017.
The Ministry of the Economy received only one application for the tender for operating the Portimão to Bragança route, as widely predicted by locals in the know.
The Government in its wisdom decided that there should be an air route between the far north and the Algarve not for any profit motive, but "to stimulate mobility and economic activity between regions, from north to south, providing better and faster accessibility between different parts of the mainland."
In 2015, the state will be liable to pay a maximum subsidy of €650,000 to Air Vip to put on what is predicted to be an uneconomic service.It is not yet know if this will be covered by EC funds.
The maximum subsidy for 2016 and 2017 rises to €2.6 million each year and in the last year the state is exposed to losses capped at €1.95 million.
The real reason for cancelling the Bragança to Lisbon service in 2012 was that Brussels would not shell out the €2.5 million a year to the operator.
The travel time between Bragança and Portimão council's airfield at Alvor, with stops in Vila Real, Viseu and Cascais, is planned to be not more than 2hours and 50 minutes with a return ticket planned to cost €148.
This route may appeal to tourists but whether business people will choose to use the link to ‘stimulate economic activity’ is yet to be seen with the Portimão mayor Isilda Gomes finally agreeing that the service may not bring the boost to the local economy which she at first heralded.
See also: http://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/5425-portimao-u-turn-on-braganca-to-alvor-air-service
