The Government of the Azores welcomed today another decisive step that was taken towards the implementation of the new model of accessibility between the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Mainland Portugal and the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

The Regional Government's position follows the announcement made by the National Civil Aviation Institute (INAC) regarding the intention to liberalise air transport in the following routes: Lisbon/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon; Lisbon/Terceira/Lisbon; Porto/Ponta Delgada/Porto and Porto/Terceira/Porto. Moreover, this entity also announced its intention to impose modified public service obligations for regular air passenger transport on the routes Lisbon/Horta/Lisbon, Funchal/Ponta Delgada and Lisbon/Santa Maria/Lisbon as well as for air cargo and mail transport in the route Lisbon/Terceira/Ponta Delgada/Lisbon.

Hence, another important step has been taken in order to make this new reality in air transport come true in the next IATA summer. It will enable the entry of new operators in the market, ensuring the defence and protection of and students. The Government of the Azores has never given up on this principle since the beginning of the revision process of Public Service Obligation for Air Transport.

With the implementation of the new accessibility model, namely the liberalisation of air routes, the Region will be able to reinforce the sustainability of economically strategic sectors, such as the case of Tourism, thus promoting the benefits arising from the reduction of costs and the improvement of service quality.

The revision of Public Service Obligations was one the Regional Government's top priorities for this legislative period. This process began in August 2011 and, as it is known, the negotiations with the National Government only ended in July this year. This phase was followed by the issuance of a press release by INAC.