On this day of strong wind that forced the diversion and cancellation of almost all scheduled flights to and from Madeira Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport, the president of the Regional Government once again criticized the National Civil Aviation Authority – ANAC, for continuing to ignore the request for installation at the airport of a system that would minimize the constraints imposed by wind limits on landings by up to 20%.
“We are waiting for any organism that exists beyond some important types on the continent to decide this issue, and never decide again, which is normal as it is important for Madeira”, he began by criticizing, referring to the claimed LIDAR System , equipment that “could solve part of the problem”, remembering that the estimate of the studies shows that 20% of flights prevented from landing in Santa Cruz, due to the imposition of operational wind limits, could do so safely with the help of the aforementioned system.
Reason to criticize those responsible for the civil aviation regulatory entity for only thinking about their “pots and doing nothing. The custom”, he emphasized.
“They are always the same. They go around that body and never manage to solve anything, it’s never budgeted, it’s always a problem. Everything that is about to resolve for Madeira, the Portuguese government is completely in the dark, which is what has happened in recent years”, he accuses.
It regrets that the conclusions of two commissions already created to study the issue of operational wind limits imposed at Madeira Airport continue to be ignored. As well as the willingness of the Regional Government to advance the money necessary for the acquisition of that technology. “If it is necessary, I even advance the money from the regional budget, but even so, it cannot be resolved”, he lamented.
Moreover, he asked for “some patience” from the thousands of passengers affected by the severe embarrassment caused by the bad weather “which we were unable to control” and which had a strong impact on the air operation scheduled for today in Madeira.