TAP Port. The government accuses PSD of lack of modesty – the Observer

The Government acknowledged the touch and, in a press release, reacted to the criticism of the PSD of the "lack of investment" in the operation of the TAP at the Port. "It was precisely during the Government led by this party that the TAP has lost passengers in the Port," the ministry of Planning and Infrastructure (MPI).

The last chapter of the novel TAP was born from a news story of the JN which concluded that, in certain cases, the trips to Lisbon were cheaper with departure from Vigo, Spain, that of the Port — a difference that could reach hundreds of euros. The PSD/Porto went public to accuse the Government of disinvestment in operation to the north of the airline and on the same day, the ministry of Pedro Marques gave the answer: "The number of passengers transported by TAP, in 2016, in the Porto airport grew by 1.8%, which led the company to climb from third to second position in the ranking of air carriers operating at that airport".

A number registered after two years of decline in the number of passengers at the Airport Sá Carneiro, in particular in 2015: minus 0.2% in 2014, and less than 5% in 2015. "They are, therefore, of a total lack of modesty the declarations made today by the PSD, on an alleged lack of investment of the company on that infrastructure, when it was precisely during the Government led by this party that the TAP has lost passengers at the Port", says the statement released on Thursday.

"For the success of the current operation of the TAP at the Port contributed a lot to the Air-Bridge (Porto-Lisbon-Porto, with flights every hour), launched in march 2016, and which registers a growth of 80% compared to the links between the two cities in the previous year. It is also relevant that 73% of the tickets for the Air-Bridge to be sold by TAP in the Centre and South of the Country, while only 27% are sold at the Port," the statement concluded.

But it was not only the PSD. The own members of the PS/Port asked the MPI response the issues raised with the news of JN. In the text that cast the five questions about the operation to the north, the deputies of the PS/Porto stated that "not only the TAP has decided to focus the majority of intercontinental flights in Lisbon, eliminating these options in the Harbor, as it fosters the level of demand in Vigo".