(4th September). ‘Movements Grow In The Airport – Madeira better than Lisbon, Porto and Faro in August’. Clearly Madeira doesn’t compete with the 3 main airports in Portugal in terms of numbers, but in term of growth (or recovery) the figures were promising last month with a growth in aircraft movements and passenger numbers, something no other continental Portuguese airport achieved in either measurement. The result is mostly down to increased domestic passengers, that are offsetting losses for UK and German markets, but improvements have also been noted from other countries including Sweden, Norway, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, France, Netherlands and Venezuela. In the case of those last 4 countries, new or increased flights have been responsible. The year end outlook is optimistic for Madeira Airport. Continued passenger growth from Lisbon and Porto, new SATA flights to Stockholm and Copenhagen, a new flight from Paris from Aigle Azur, the possibility of Easyjet restarting suspended flights from London Gatwick, and speculation that Air Berlin might start an operation to come here covering 10 or more German airports. There is also a little optimistic news on some charter flights restarting. Also East European visitors are expected to grow, as connections to the continent are now available in Russia and Poland. Porto Santo Airport is unfortunately a different story, as the chart shows, with not much positive news on the horizon. Also discussed yesterday on the news was the possibility of flights from Ryanair to Madeira.
‘Bernardo Spoke About Madeira To The President Of Ryanair’. Secretary of State for Tourism, and Madeira’s head-of-the-list for the socialist party, Bernardo Trindade, met yesterday with the chairman of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary. The ‘can I have a word in your ear guv’ happened after the inauguration of a new Ryanair base at Porto. The discussion allowed the two to consider the importance of making connections to the tourist destinations of Portugal, now that there is a new base in operation. The first of such is the new connection Porto – Faro, due to start in the Autumn. Ryanair is very sensitive about operational costs, and obstacles such as pilot certification for Madeira, and high airport charges, would have no doubt formed part of the discussion, allowing Bernardo to highlight the fact that Easyjet managed both hurdles successfully. I reckon that Bernardo, ‘our man in Portugal’, has a done deal here … just watch this space.
(2nd September). ‘Page and Moy charters Athena for 2010 summer season’. Tour operator Page and Moy has exclusively chartered the cruise ship Athena for the 2010 Summer season. The 16,000 ton cruise ship has capacity for 550 passengers, has a swimming pool, two dining areas, a nightclub and a casino. During the charter the operator will run cruises from May 1st to the Baltic and Norwegian and Icelandic ports before offering cruises to Madeira, the Canary Islands, North Africa and Iberia in August. Page and Moy head of marketing Victoria Clarke said: “We’re delighted to be chartering the Athena for our summer 2010 programme". It’s been booked in for its next visit here in August 2010 for some time I believe, so someone knew this was going to happen long before this press release. I believe the Athena is registered on Madeira.
Finally, a late headline today : ‘Government Pays Homage To Nélio Mendonça And Rui Vieira – Funchal Central Hospital will now be called Hospital Dr. Nélio Mendonça, and the Botanical Gardens will be called Jardim Botânico Engenheiro Rui Vieira’. These were the results of the deliberations of the council of government that met today, presided over by president Alberto João Jardim, to honour these men. As a reminder :
(blog 14th July 2009) – ‘Dr. Nélio Mendonça Passed Away – Ex-president of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira was hospitalised. The Government Of Madeira Is Going To Declare Today 3 Days Of Official Mourning’. The doctor specialising in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and politician died aged 78 after illness. He was also president of Nacional Sports Club, and the founder of Madeira’s health service.
(blog 30th August 2009) – ‘Engineer Rui Vieira Died – The agronomist and politician was aged 83′. He was the first director of the Jardim Botânico (Botanic Gardens) of Funchal, and a Euro MP for the CDS / PP. He died yesterday of cancer.