Paris to Beja charter flights cancelled

Paul 02 July 2014

beja The operation of charter flights between Paris and Beja, which started on 28 April 2014 and were to carry on until October, have been suspended according to Portugal’s French-owned airports operator ANA.

The last round trip between Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and Beja airport, was on June 16 and no more will take place despite the busy schedule that was booked by operator Tour GPS .

Last December the mood was more positive when Windavia Airlines announced that it was betting on high passengers numbers to and from the Alentejo airport and "will start flying all summer to and from Beja in a very ambitious operation."

"Flights to and from Tróia on the Alentejo coast, and Beja, will bring passengers from Paris and major French cities," said director Peter Bollinger, adding that "Windavia wants to carry over 10,000 passengers to the Alentejo from April to October next year (2014)."

Windavia had linked up with the Portuguese tour operator Tour GPS, but ANA’s announcement that the operation to carry French tourists to and from Beja had been suspended, sees the situation worsen at the regional airport which is losing money every month it stays open.

The plan to fly French holidaymakers to the Alentejo involved an ambitious 12 flights every two weeks but only four round trip flights took place.

The route was based on a contract between the GPS Tour and the French PRO BTP, a social insurance association for construction workers representing more than three million French families. Those holidaymakers who already have booked will now fly from Paris to Lisbon. GPS Tour director, António Duarte, today was unavailable for comment.

Beja became operational as a civil airport in 2011 and cost €33 million. Despite high hopes, and a need for tourists in the rapidly emptying Alentejo region, no coherent plan has been put forward or acted on by the airport operator ANA which seems determined to let the airport sit, unused and leaking money.