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Faro airport inaugurated - rail link decision 'coming soon'

FaroAirportFrontFaro Airport’s new terminal building was inaugurated today by the Prime Minster, António Costa, as the €33 million refit is close to completion.

As expected, the ceremony also was attended by the Minister for Infrastructure, Pedro Marques, who said he expected "a 50% increase in passenger number in the next in five to six years" which he guessed would equate to €600,000 in additional export earnings.

Pedro Marques took the opportunity to comment on the 'on-off' Faro airport rail link project, 'Preliminary environmental feasibility studies for this link are in preparation. Economic studies have already been carried out, which indicate that this link will be viable,” said Marquês, while offering no time scale.

The airport revamp was funded by airport operator ANA, owned by Vinci Airports, but the ministers are keen to align themselves with the successful near-completion of the project that has created more room for travellers, shops, staff and aircraft.

The airport is bigger by one hectare and can cope with more passengers on more flights. Alberto Mota Borges, director of Faro Airport, said that some commercial spaces have yet to be completed.

António Costa, celebrating his 56th birthday by visiting the Algarve, said that tourists number are up 9.5% to the end of April this year and that "this is not cyclical, tourism in Portugal is growing because of improving quality. It is essential to continue working on tourism all year round."

The PM, always keen to stress the positive, assured the Algarve that a decision is going to be made at the end of the month that will solve the region’s health problems by creating the University Hospital of the Algarve and establishing the conditions necessary to keep more doctors in the region.

The Prime Minister also visited Olhão, where he was received by the delighted mayor, António Pina.
 
The pro-oil Minister of the Sea, Ana Paula Vitorino and the Secretary of State for Fisheries, José Apolinário, accompanied the PM on a visit the specialist fish food technology company ‘Sparos,’ a spin-off from the Centre for of Marine Sciences at the University of the Algarve.

The ever-cheery prime minister said he was impressed by the quality of the work carried out by this internationally renowned company,

"Sparos is an excellent example of how a knowledge-intensive company can make a decisive contribution to change, not only within the industry, but also in the technological profile of the country and, above all, contribute to the future sustainability and quality of farmed fish."
 
Mayor Pina commented that, "It is these kind of projects, dedicated to research, innovation and, above all, to do with the sea, that we want to attract to Olhão."
 
Sparos is a scientific and technological SME dedicated to the development of new products and nutritional solutions for the aquaculture market. It is based in Olhão and served the entire European market - a perfect choice fot today's birthday visit.

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Comments  

0 #9 Mike Connelly 2017-07-23 10:02
Is faro airport now fully open? We arrived their in June what a farce the internal bus going round and round the Tarmac and the queues at every point
+1 #8 Charly 2017-07-19 17:45
to Margaridaana: since 2016 all fiscal rules and behavior are (automatically) regulated and pointed out by the new OCSE regulations that came into force between already more than 110 countries (out ofthe 196 countries worldwide). All residents should be aware of this new COMMON REPORTING SYSTEM (=CRS) rulings as they are mandatory and also applicable by the Portugese finanças.
0 #7 Margaridaana 2017-07-19 14:40
To Mr Neil M, I would point out that if one is legally resident in Portugall for 180 days, one has to submit a tax return, therefore it is almost impossible for a non Portuguese to live tax free. This is in addition to the every day taxes so rightly mentioned by dw. Or does Neil M know something the rest of us do not?
+3 #6 BrunoG 2017-07-18 19:25
A raillink would be great for the Eastern Algarve where tourism is booming also. Let's dream on and imagine a link to the Spanish train system :-)
+1 #5 Charly 2017-07-18 18:45
Mr Neil M, I live in Portugal for 14 years and - with the help of our excellent Portugese accountant - eveything we do is fully legal and as such we pay correctely IVA, social security, IMI and consequentely IRS. There are not much foreign residents that can say that ! This year for the very first time we had to coop with the new fiscal CRS regulations. Once again we fully applied all regulations with the result that (due to the new fiscal residency definition) I have to pay in Portugal 2O TIMES MORE IRS than I ever did before and even with that I can live and I do not complain (of course it has to be said that I have to pay LESS IRS in some other countries now , so that per balance
I pay only 6 times more than it was before.
And YES many times I was "victim" of severe cases of corruption in the Algarve and in my township. So I definitely know what I am speaking about.
+2 #4 dw 2017-07-18 13:48
Tax free? What about IVA, IMI, IUC etc ?
-3 #3 Neil M 2017-07-18 09:06
Mr Charly, you seem to have a severe case of corruption..itis. I would suggest that you take a break from your heavy schedule of looking for faults in everything political in Portugal. Start enjoying the reason that you came here for... THE TAX BREAKS you know the fact that you can have your large pot of pension money from your country of origin and you can live with a great deal of comfort in lovely Portugal... Tax Free.
So if you perceive the politicians of Portugal to be less than honest by taking advantage of a system, (I am not condoning this behaviour by the way) then you may have to look at your own personal circumstances as you are also taking advantage of a system that allows you to live Tax Free.
+1 #2 Charly 2017-07-17 20:04
Mr George Kennedy, you are fully right. However that will probably not be the option that will be chooses...; as the bribes for such a service might be far lower than for a massive investment for a new train track. You know how the system works here, don't you ?
+4 #1 George Kennedy 2017-07-17 18:03
The airport does NOT need a rail link.

The Algarve Line does not serve many of the current major tourist centres such as Vilamoura or Albufeira.The investment required to re-align the Algarve Line would be enormous.

Much more important to get regular frequent quality hourly buses services running east and west direct from the Airport & Faro to Lagos & VRSA 15 to 18 per day

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