The Secretary of State for Transport said today that the new route with regular flights to Viseu Tires and Portimão will start operating early next year.
"This is the re-starting of a service that existed a few years ago. I hope that early next year we can have regular flights," said Sérgio Monteiro during the opening ceremony of redevelopment works at the Municipal Aerodrome in Viseu.
Tras-os-Montes was connected to Lisbon by a regional airline a couple of years ago but the route was scrapped as it could not be made to pay. The new plan to link the north of Portugal to the south of the country, with a stop in Viseu will need government money to subside the service.
The minister stressed that the inclusion of Viseu and Portimao on the route that previously served only Vila Real, Bragança and Tires near Lisbon, will not cost any more money.
"We are sure that the inclusion of Viseu in this route is not only compatible with the budgetary realities of the country, but also with EU rules," added Monteiro. The 'budgetary realities' Monteiro refers to appear to include running air services at the taxpayers' expense that few will use.
In his speech, Sérgio Monteiro argued that this measure will contribute to social cohesion and the development of infrastructure which are both of prime importance to the Viseu area and for the promotion of economic activity.
The local mayor said the council had invested about €130,000 in the redevelopment of the Viseu Municipal Aerodrome, €100,000 on the airstrip and close to €30,000 on the hangars, with not a customer in sight apart from those already working at the air accident investigation centre which has been upgraded.
The official proposal has come from the National Institute of Civil Aviation which proposes that a single airline sets up the route with its blessing, starting in Bragança in the north east of the country, making stops in Vila Real, Viseu, Tires and finally landing in Portimão.
The Institute has mentioned no names and no airline has yet expressed an interest in runnning what inevitably will end up as a loss making service needing increasing subsidies until once again it is closed on financial grounds.
The government has accepted the proposal from the Institute and according to Sérgio Monteiro the plan makes sense socially, even if it makes no economic sense.
With a rare flash of brilliance Monteiro at least has spotted that "The key is in attracting passengers for this type of short hop service so it can run at a profit."
The minister has not discounted the idea of the government lending financial support. The sum of €2.5 million per year has been mentioned as this is what the last service managed to lose each year.
Unless there is a substantial taxpayer subsidy, no airline will be interested in running the service, however smart the airport at Viseu now looks.
At at time when many of the country's poor are once again rooting through rubbish bins for food, the government may find it has more pressing matters in hand than to inaugurate an air route with proven shortcomings in a country less than 600 kilometres in length.
