The privately owned airline Hi Fly is to store two Airbus aircraft at Beja airport, following national airport operator ANA's new strategy of promoting the use of the almost deserted airport for medium and long-term parking.
The first aircraft, an Airbus A340-300, flew in from Havana today and the second, an Airbus A340-500, will arrive from Helsinki on the 13th of January.
The storage of the two Hi Fly aeroplanes "follows the commercial regeneration strategy that ANA has adopted to promote the use of Beja airport for medium and long-term parking," explains the company.
"It is expected that this investment by Hi Fly in Beja is the first step in developing a partnership for the development of other activities at the airport" according to ANA which until now has placed the development of the Beja airport business low down its 'list of things to do.'
Hi Fly has a president, Paulo Mirpuri, who said that the agreement reached with ANA for the use of the Beja airport as storage and maintenance hub for Hi Fly aeroplanes, is "very positive."
Hi Fly is European and states that it is the largest private company dedicated to the leasing of aircraft with crew, maintenance and insurance included.
Beja airport, converted from a military airbase at a cost to the taxpayer of €33 million, began operating in April 2011 and has been pretty much empty ever since with only the occasional flight disturbing the calm of the Alentejo.
Since ANA was sold to French infrastructure giant Vinci Group, there have been hopes that Beja airport could be used for something other than accepting the occassional commercial flight.
