“They won’t have to advance a single euro. That was my commitment until the summer, and today I’m letting you know that it will be much sooner,” guaranteed Miguel Pinto Luz. He also announced that the Government has decided to remove the requirement for a receipt to obtain reimbursement for air travel.
This issue has persisted for an extended period, not just weeks or months, but years, and it remains unresolved. A new platform has been introduced, which unfortunately does not function effectively, particularly for foreign residents. We now await to see if these promises will materialise.
People from Madeira – and the Azores – will no longer have to pay in advance for air travel between the mainland and the islands in the coming weeks, much earlier than initially planned for the summer. The announcement was made this morning by the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, who also revealed the immediate end of the requirement to present the receipt on the Social Mobility Subsidy (SSM) platform.
The promise that island residents will only pay the final cost of the trip, no longer having to bear the high costs charged by airlines and then request reimbursement from the State, will move forward sooner than expected. In the Infrastructure, Mobility and Housing Committee, Miguel Pinto Luz assured that the solution is very close to being implemented.
This provides the definitive answer to a problem that has plagued island families for many years.
“We will have a solution that no one has ever been able to present, but we are the ones who presented it, because it was our commitment: that a citizen of Madeira and a citizen of the Azores will not have to advance a single euro. That was my commitment until the summer, and today I reaffirm that it will be much sooner than that,” he later added.
Proof of payment falls to the ground.
Miguel Pinto Luz also announced that the Government of the Republic has decided to streamline the current reimbursement system – which has been the subject of intense complaints due to IT constraints. From now on, passengers no longer need to submit proof of payment on the SSM digital platform.