In a response sent to Lusa, ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport "has faced, in recent days, constraints in airport operations, delays and cancellations of flights that have impacted passengers".

The airport manager also confirmed that passengers "were forced to stay at the airport", whose operations were affected by strong winds that have been occurring especially since the weekend.

The "extraordinary situation", which was caused by adverse weather conditions in the archipelago, "has mobilised all the airport teams and its partners, who have sought by all means at their disposal to support passengers stranded at the airport without accommodation and without flights", ANA guarantees.

"The weather conditions are now allowing the airport to operate at full capacity, which means that airlines are already regularizing the situation and continuing the journeys of passengers who are waiting for their flights," it said.

According to the airport manager, "the airport teams have activated the contingency plan", but the PS, the largest opposition party in the archipelago, has already questioned the Regional Government of Madeira about its activation.

The situation at the airport led the PS/Madeira parliamentary group to send a request for clarification to the regional secretary for Economy, Tourism and Culture, Eduardo Jesus.

In the statement sent to journalists today, the socialists question precisely whether ANA "activated the contingency plan [...], in order to provide all necessary support to the affected passengers".

The socialists also ask what "extraordinary measures were taken to provide greater comfort to the stranded passengers".

On Monday, DECO - Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection - told Lusa that the rights of air passengers are not being respected at that facility.