Bloco de Esquerda in Portugal calls for an end to domestic flights

The left-wing party says that the relatively short distances between airports on the Portuguese mainland justifies the cancellation of domestic flights. The distance between Porto and Lisbon is 300 kilometers. Trains run on the route, which take three hours. The route from Lisbon to Faro measures 277 kilometers. There is also a rail connection there.

Most domestic flights in Portugal do not take place over land, but over the Atlantic Ocean, to and from the archipelago of the Azores and Madeira.

Minority
The question is whether the Left Bloc, which has little to offer in Portugal, will receive support from other parties for its proposal. The centre-right Democratic Alliance became the largest party in last month’s elections and now forms a minority government.

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro has recently revealed his plans for aviation: he wants to push through with the privatization of state-owned company TAP Air Portugal. Air France-KLM has indicated that it wishes to acquire part or all of TAP.

Montenegro has not commented on the status of domestic flights.