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The new president of the Executive Committee (CEO) of TAP said today that the airline is unfavorable to any change in the schedule of night flights and speaks of a potential economic impact of 47.6 to 95.2 million euros.
Ramiro Sequeira, who, as he explained, is “on time” to officially become the successor of Antonoaldo Neves at the head of TAP, participated by videoconference in a hearing of the Working Group – Night Civil Flights, of the parliamentary commission on the Environment, Energy and Planning. of the Territory, within the scope of the PAN and Left Bloc laws to prohibit the occurrence of night civil flights between 00:00 and 06:00, except for reasons of force majeure.
Asked about the flexibility of the airline for schedule changes, the official affirmed that TAP is “unfavorable to any modification”, since this can have economic impacts between 47.6 and 95.2 million euros, based on all flights that the company would stop running overnight.
The CEO argued that there are other ways to reduce noise, namely the use of more advanced technologies and changes to the runway approach and landing protocols.
“TAP complies with all the industry indicators in terms of noise and the use of the mechanisms available to an airline to address this problem”, guaranteed Ramiro Sequeira, highlighting that TAP is “sensitive to all the people who are affected by East”. question [ruído]”.
Regarding the breach of the restrictions on night flights, TAP recalled that 73% are not attributable to the company, but are related to issues related to the airport’s own operation and a “snowball of delays” that can generate. throughout the day.
“When we have an airport [Humberto Delgado, Lisboa] that is operating at maximum capacity […] it means that there is no margin for unforeseen events ”, he pointed out, referring to delays caused by weather conditions, traffic from other countries or military exercises around the airport.
Create the snowball. This is something that TAP tries to circumvent, but the reality is that we operate in an airport with a runway and that has ‘slots’ [vaga que permite marcar uma aterragem ou descolagem] sold, ”he added.
Thus, the head of the airline also ruled against the possibility of moving night flights to daytime.
“Moving all the flights that are authorized from night to day is not a solution in itself, because, in a normal summer, these ‘slots’ will take care of themselves,” he argued.
The Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) expressed its support for the intention of PAN and BE to reduce night flights and argues that it should apply to the period between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., as stated in a hearing in July.
The APA considers this reflection timely, focused on the objective of reducing night flights, highlighting that it should not be applied exclusively to the period between 00:00 and 00:06, but include the period between 23:00 and 07: 00 hours ”. said the official.
That same day, the working group also listened to Ana Nogueira, from the Ricardo Jorge National Institute of Health, who took stock of the noise-related measures approved in recent years, specifically by the World Health Organization (WHO). “Due to exposure to environmental noise, it has been estimated that around one million years of healthy life are lost annually in Western European countries,” she said.
The president of the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), Luís Miguel Ribeiro, said, in turn, that noise levels have been decreasing, mainly due to the greater efficiency of aircraft engines, and that he criticized the fact that that the construction of buildings be allowed. housing near airports.
Regarding the party proposals under discussion, Luís Miguel Ribeiro warned that there are night flights that occur due to daytime irregularities, so if these planes cannot return to the base, the irregularities increase the next day in a “snowball” effect. .
Claiming to understand the noise concern, he advocated a “balanced approach” that does not overly harm the sector.
Luís Miguel Ribeiro also said, in response to the deputies, that only a small part of the night movements are classified as “force majeure”, adding that fines are imposed but that there is a whole process that gradually reduces the amount to be paid, and that In 2019, 133 lawsuits related to 1,153 movements were initiated, with ANAC applying fines amounting to 600 thousand euros.
Antonoaldo Neves leaves the management of TAP today, following the agreement between the Government and private shareholders for the reorganization of the group’s corporate structure – with the departure of David Neeleman – and will be temporarily replaced by Ramiro Sequeira.
In a letter to which Lusa had access, the outgoing CEO stated that “there is always room to do more and better”, adding that he leaves the airline “with a sense of mission accomplished”.
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