The Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Culture (SRTC) says, in a statement, that it “continues to defend that Madeira passengers on flights from or to national airports (mainland Portugal or the Azores) should not be required to fill in the registration form. passenger location (‘Passenger Location Form’ or PLF)”.
He recalls that “this was the understanding of a communication sent by the office of the Minister of Internal Administration (MAI) to the SRTC, on December 16, 2021, which stated that the “PLF must be completed only by passengers on flights to or from Mainland Portugal or cruise ship passengers docking at terminals located in mainland Portugal, so its completion is not mandatory for passengers on domestic flights”.
He adds that “the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), last Friday, February 4th, in a communication sent to ANA Aeroportos, came to inform that the Government of the Republic, contrary to what the MAI had said in December, believes that “the PLF must be completed by all passengers on flights to or from mainland Portugal, thus including passengers on flights from the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira””.
He states that, “being aware of this information, the SRTC immediately sought a solution for what it believes to be a factor of discrimination for the autonomous regions, underlining that the PLF is not required for passengers on flights between Lisbon and Porto, between Lisbon and Faro or between Porto and Faro, and also referring to the situation the country is currently experiencing in terms of easing restrictions related to the pandemic”
The SRTC also believes that “with this communication from ANAC, discontent on the part of airlines, which will have to operationalize discriminatory measures, as well as the Madeiran population that may be prevented from traveling for not filling out that form is expected”.
“Thus, taking into account these issues, letters were quickly sent, on the afternoon of last Friday, to the Ministry of Internal Administration, to the Ministry of Health and to the Assistant Secretary of State and Communications, as well as to the ANAC, informing the remaining communications”, he reveals.
Despite this attitude of António Costa’s Government, he states that the Regional Government “maintains that this decision is discriminatory for passengers from Madeira (and consequently from the Azores), since the same is not required of passengers on domestic flights in mainland Portugal” .