In a statement, the president of the PSD of the Algarve, Cristóvão Norte, defended that the region “would be a suitable place to receive this investment, reinforcing the link with Ryanair in the region, since it, to a large extent, depends on a significant slice of the passenger movements at Faro International Airport, Gago Coutinho”.

The party leader pointed out that, in recent days, the municipalities of Porto, Matosinhos, and Maia have been expressing their willingness to see the training center installed in the metropolitan area of Porto, and has asked the regional authorities of Algarve to try to attract this investment to Faro.

The importance of attracting a company such as Ryanair, which has been described by Irish PM Leo Varadkar as being an Irish company that is “a driving force for change”, has not been lost on the PSD politician.

“In the [Algarve] region, we know that we cannot count on TAP. All the airlines and their ground operations that we can bring to the region are a guarantee of the stability of the presence of these companies. Having a Ryanair training center would be of the utmost importance,” said Cristóvão Norte, quoted in a statement.

The president of the district appealed to the Algarve Intermunicipal Community (AMAL) to, if it wants to be “more useful”, work with “other regional entities” and, “with AICEP [Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal] and the company [Ryanair], fight for a major investment that brings jobs and sustainability to the airport and the region” in the Algarve.

“Unfortunately, we see a lot of passivity and little initiative. We cannot squander strategic opportunities like this”.

The position of the PSD of the Algarve comes after, on December 22, the mayors of Porto, Matosinhos, Vila Nova de Gaia said they were available to host the new Ryanair training center in the Metropolitan Area of Porto (AMP).