(19th July). ‘IPTM overcomes injunction to continue the operation of the ‘Armas’ in the Port of Funchal Decision delivered in the Court of Lisbon Circle’. The Institute for Port and Maritime Transport (IPTM) on Friday came out with a decision in the Court of Lisbon Circle, to allow the continued operation of unloading in the port of Funchal by the Spanish ferry owner Naviera Armas. Naviera Armas is licensed to carry passengers and freight between Portimão, Funchal, and the Canary Islands, but was barred last week from carrying out the freight unloading on Madeira due to the injunction brought by the Portuguese Association of Shipowners, who claimed unequal treatment and unfair competition for Spanish ferry ship. IPTM used a section of Article 128 of the Code of Procedure of the Courts of Administration, to oppose the injunction of the Portuguese Association of Shipowners, on the basis that the decision was "detrimental to the public interest".
‘Fall of 40% In The Hotel Sector Of Porto Santo – The numbers from the first days of the holiday season are not very cheering’. The forecasts of the hoteliers point to a sharp fall in occupancy, during this high season and the most important few months of the year. Overall losses are expected to be in the order of 40% compared to 2008. It may be that agents and many people are waiting for special offers before booking, but the hotels on Porto Santo are showing no willing to lower prices.
‘Sightings Of Whales Off Madeira At A High Point – The south coast of Funchal is having exceptional sightings’. This week a group of tourists were amazed that in just one boat trip they saw a group of several whales. On the trip last Thursday on the catamaran ‘Sea Pleasure’ the 65 tourists saw at least four whales swimming along the coast, including an adult with a youngster. The skipper of the boat said "We were already well positioned for the sightings, when the unexpected happened. It was breath-taking. In front of us, less than 70 meters away, the adult whale started to jump, a situation that for the delight of all was repeated seven times. I do not know if any of the 65 tourists managed to photograph the jumps, as at the time, the majority managed only to look, marvelling at the spectacle", he added. To learn more about the species and characteristics of these whales, the Diário spoke with Lúis Freitas, director of the Whale Museum of Madeira, who said: "This is the tropical whale or Whale-de-Bryde, also known in the region as a Finbeque. It grows up to 18 tons in weight and 13 meters in length. Frequently in our waters between the months of May to November, they are found in areas they find especially productive and can be observed alone or in pairs, forming groups less frequently of up to seven animals. As for the records of this species, the boss of the Whale Museum added that "they go back to the year 2003 and since then there have been frequent sightings in our waters". Perhaps whales have heard the news following the International Whaling Conference on Madeira recently, that after a black history we are now totally reformed, and that our seas are a safe haven for cetaceans.
(18th July). ‘Madeira Will Have 2nd Flight Of Flyglobespan – The Scottish operator is to set to have flights from both Edinburgh and Glasgow’. The Scottish tour operator Globespan will resume the offering of holiday packages to Madeira, using the company’s own aircraft. The flight from Edinburgh is pretty much used just by tourists on Mondays, booking mainly through the company website, and also handling customers through an agent on Madeira (Sprincar Travel). The new flight from Glasgow will start in the Winter with a Boeing 737-800 that can carry around 200 passengers. A spokesman said that one of the reasons for the extra interest is the lack of any other operator in Scotland for direct flights to Madeira, the other reason is that even in times of crisis there is demand for our archipelago, being a prestigious destination, much talked about for its natural beauty, for its climate and its hotel offerings.
‘Cheap holidays from various UK airports – The vacation packages to Madeira from the UK airports of Birmingham, Exeter and Newcastle, are still getting cheaper’. Atlantic Holidays, the only UK operator that specialises in Madeira, has reduced its offerings by between £30 and £40, depending on the departure airport. The company says that the strategy is to encourage last minute bookings, as even though demand is good, some departure airports are more difficult to sell than others. Atlantic Holidays is part of the Pestana Group, and started up in 1991.
‘Madeira Highlighted In Popular British Magazine – ‘Source’ published a report about our archipelago’ in the July / August edition’. It presents Madeira as a ‘choice destination’, a paradise, and praises the natural beauty. The ‘Source’ is a free magazine published by the John Lewis group, that has luxury stores located throughout the UK, primarily serving customers with high spending power, and are the equal of Harrods and Selfridges stores. The journalist who wrote the article was not happy with everything about Madeira however, as she didn’t like the look of the Black Espada fish served at Quinta das Vistas, even though she was amazed with the taste. The article praises the richness or our gastronomy, with special mentions and pictures for honey cake, bread, and sweet potato.
‘Sale Of Travel In First Class And Executive In Free Fall – The receipts of the airlines falls between 40 and 45%’. In May the fall in bookings was 23.6%, having a huge impact on the revenue. The number of bookings has fallen for 12 consecutive months. Economy class bookings have also fallen, but by just 7.6%. In response the airlines are starting to discount these premium seats.
The post Armas Reprieve ; Porto Santo In Low ; Whales Sightings Soaring ; New Flight From Scotland appeared first on Madeira News Blog.