“I would like to take this opportunity to say that United [Airlines] will continue to fly in the Azores next summer,” said Berta Cabral.

The minister was speaking on the first day of the plenary work of the September legislative period, the first after the summer holidays, of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, in Horta, in response to a question from the socialist deputy Vasco Cordeiro to the Regional Government ( PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) on air transport.

“No matter how much it costs you [the socialists], because actually, at one point, I thought, and I'm still in doubt, whether the PS's intention was for Ryanair to leave and all this not to work out. But it did. It worked out. Because Ryanair's principle position was to leave the Azores and we did everything to ensure that that didn't happen”, she continued.

In her opinion, the maintenance of Ryanair in the Azores, although with reduced flights in winter, means that the Regional Government has achieved its objective.

The government official mentioned, in her response to Vasco Cordeiro, that the process with Ryanair “is absolutely transparent” and “is in the public square for all Azoreans to know about”.

“Therefore, I completely reject your claims of a lack of transparency, lack of timely information and arrogance on the part of the Government. (…) Because they had all the information at the time it all existed, because it only exists when the talks end”, he said, remembering that it involved Ryanair, the Azorean Government, Visit Azores, Ana Vinci and Turismo de Portugal.

During the debate, Berta Cabral also said that Ryanair is a company that “brings tourism to the Azores” and that businesspeople appreciate.

“If today Azores Airlines is being privatized, it is because someone buried Azores Airlines”, she then stated, addressing Vasco Cordeiro, who was once leader of the Azorean executive.