Filipe Sousa, a Member of Parliament for Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP), has demanded concrete guarantees from the Republic's government regarding the future of air links to Madeira and the Azores, following the selection of Lufthansa for the partial privatization of TAP.
Reacting to the announced decision, the Madeiran parliamentarian expressed regret over the lack of clarification from Prime Minister Luís Montenegro concerning contractual conditions to protect connections to the autonomous regions. Sousa criticized the absence of clarity on the guarantees to be included in the privatization contract, questioning the protection of routes, frequencies, minimum capacity, and penalties.
Filipe Sousa also posed a question to the Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, about whether the German group could reduce flights or capacity on links to the autonomous regions for profitability reasons. The MP stressed that territorial continuity cannot depend on commercial interests and that air transport is a necessity, not a luxury, for island residents.
