Beja: Airport serves for parking and dismantling of aircraft.
The first of two planes from the private airline Hi Fly, landed yesterday on the runways at the Air Base 11 (BA11), in Beja, parking later at the airport sign, where will you stay for a while.
A aircraft, an Airbus A340-500 (na photos), originating in Helsinki, capital of Finland, was the first to land, after last week the arrival of an Airbus A340-300 was postponed, originating in Havana, capital of Cuba.
This new phase of life at Beja airport, whose construction was announced in June 2002, by the then Prime Minister, Barroso, as an “international airport”, is included in the strategy of ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal to “promote the use for medium and long-term parking” of the infrastructure.
Upon the announcement made by the president of Hi Fly, Paulo Mirpuri, the airport of Beja will be used as the company's "turntable for the route between contracts", for parking and maintenance, defining the agreement reached as "very positive".
Hi Fly is a European air carrier, with 20 Airbus planes, for hire with crew, maintenance and insurance included, the so-called “wet leasing”.
Heard by SIC television, about this operation, John Rocha, Mayor of Beja, was satisfied, justifying that “everything that comes is good, but the important thing is the maintenance company that will create jobs”, concluded.
On the last day of July last year, ANA and AeroNeo signed an agreement for the construction and operation of an industrial unit at Beja airport, intended for maintenance, dismantling and certification of salvageable aircraft components.
Na height, Dominique Verhaegen, on behalf of AeroNeo, mentioned that in the project, the company “will invest 8 million euros and create 80 work stations", finished.
It should be recalled that the infrastructure in Beja resulted from the civil use of the BA runways 11, where the government of José Sócrates invested 33 million, having started operating in April 2011, with a flight between Beja and Cape Verde. In one of the busiest years, in 2013, passed through Beja airport 1756 passengers, Rest, most days it's empty and no flights with passengers.
Teixeira Correia
(journalist)
