Azores Situation Report Wednesday 11th January 2023
– From our colleague in the Azores
Azores break record for passengers disembarking at airports in 2022
The Azores registered a record number of passengers disembarking at airports in 2022, with more than 1.8 million disembarking, according to data revealed by the Regional Statistics Service (SREA).
Between January and December of last year, 1,842,460 passengers disembarked at Azorean airports, 138,639 (8.1%) more than in 2019, the year before the covid-19 pandemic, in which the highest number of arrivals in the country had been recorded. region, according to SREA data consulted by Lusa.
After a sharp drop in 2020, due to the pandemic, with 638,821 arrivals, the region recorded a recovery in 2021, with 1,181,896 arrivals.
Compared to the same period, there was an increase of 55.9% in 2022.
“All islands show positive variations in passenger arrivals compared to the previous year. The one with the greatest variation is that of São Miguel, with 64.3% and, for the first time, exceeds one million disembarked passengers”, reads in the SREA publication.
The second island with the highest rise was Terceira (56.9%), followed by Pico (47.5%), Faial (42.2%), Santa Maria (36.1%), Graciosa (27.7%), Flores (26.3%), São Jorge (24.1%) and Corvo (16.6%).
By type of flight, disembarkations from inter-island flights stood out the most in 2022, with a total of 827,868 passengers, 36.6% more than in the previous year.
However, it was on international flights that the biggest rise was recorded compared to the same period last year (218.2%), with more than three times the number of passengers disembarked (198,387).
Passengers on flights from mainland Portugal and Madeira registered a rise of 58.9%, to 816,205.
Year-on-year growth was recorded in every month of 2022.
In relation to the month of December, whose data were released today, there was a “positive variation of 26.4% compared to the same month of the previous year” and 20.8% compared to December 2019, with 118,819 passengers disembarking.
As for boarded passengers, 112,831, there was “a positive variation of 19.9% compared to December 2019 and 25.3% compared to the same month of 2021”.
Use of plastic bags for fruit banned from June
As of June 1st, of this year, new measures will come into force to reduce the consumption of plastics in the Region
Crew members go on strike between January 25th and 31st
The National Union of Civil Aviation Flight Personnel (SNPVAC) will advance with a prior notice of strike at work at TAP for seven days, between 25th and 31st January, according to a note sent to members.
Most of these deaths are preventable so a reminder to: avoid sleeping near heating equipment; properly protect the fireplace so that it does not cause a household fire; move away furniture and do not dry your clothes in heaters; before bed or leaving home make sure you have put out wood and charcoal fires or turned off heating equipment in order to avoid possible fires and avoid overload – do not connect too many devices in the same outlet, especially high consumption.
At the opening of the seminar on the “Program of Lessons Learned from the Rural Fire Season 2022 of the European Civil Protection Mechanism”, it was attended by the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, Minister José Luís Carneiro and Min Swedish civil defence force Carl-Oskar Bohlin via video conference and while representing the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
Miguel Reis was elected mayor of Espinho, Aveiro district, by the PS in the 2021 municipal elections, with 40.23% of the votes.
The statement explains that 174 doctors will be working at the region’s public hospitals, while 22 will be placed at the region’s health centres (14 at the Central Algarve health centres group, three at the Eastern Algarve health centres group and four at the Western Algarve health centres group). The interns were welcomed on Tuesday, January 3 in Faro by ARS Algarve boss Paulo Morgado, who stressed the importance of “investing in knowledge and research” to meet the needs of society.
A new project has been launched with the goal of “restoring, recovering and reforesting” around 100 hectares of land in the Algarve’s Serra do Caldeirão mountains.
The man is Idalino Pereira, popularly known as Mestre Idalino Canelas, who lives in Pocinho and was last seen in Venda Nova.The searches are being carried out by 9 operatives and 4 vehicles from the National Republican Guard (GNR), 7 operatives and 3 vehicles from the Municipal Civil Protection Service and two operatives and a vehicle from the Maritime Police.
In a vote, which according to the organisation was the closest ever, in which 10 trees participated, Eucalipto de Contige, Sátão, district of Viseu won, in what is the sixth edition of the initiative in Portugal.
In the lead up to the festive period there was an intensive campaign utilizing social media, and radio/television to try and drive home these messages concerning the effects of drink driving in particular and use of mobile phones and excess speed being the main causes of fatal accidents. The theme “The Best Gift is Being Present”, showing the effect on families resulting from the loss of a family member through a road accident, was in my view well thought out and appropriate. The results are therefore disappointing.
The recent floods together with fallen trees and landslips resulting from heavy rains is a reminder of the importance of following the advice given by the civil protection authorities. We saw several instances of people driving their cars into flooded areas with the inevitable outcome; the car becoming immobilized. In one case and elderly couple cut the tapes put in place by the GNR so they could pass along a flooded road and then became trapped as the car became lodged in a whole in the road and they had to be rescued (see photo). This incidence as well as some of the landslips involving boulders falling on to roads, are good reasons why in extreme conditions, when warnings are in place, people should avoid travelling. The more people on the streets the higher the risk of injuries or worse, and places the emergencies themselves at risk in rescue operations.
At the same time, the GNR detected 924 road traffic offences, of which 187 were due to speeding, 77 due to lack of mandatory periodic inspection, 41 related to anomalies in the lighting and signalling systems, 23 due to improper use of the mobile phone while driving and 20 due to lack of liability insurance. With regard to accidents on Algarve roads, 109 accidents were recorded, resulting in one death, three serious injuries and 19 minor injuries.
According to the Faro District Relief Operations Command (CDOS) , the accident occurred in the early afternoon, on the EN125, in the Belmonte area, in the municipality of Portimão, and involved two light goods vehicles. According to the source, the accident led to the conditioning of road traffic on the road section near Belmonte, which has now been re-established.
Newborns may, in fact, be synonymous with fragility. But let’s not forget that they are also the pinnacle of courage, strength and resilience in their most natural state. “That’s exactly what Sanyam is”, says the emotional mother.
And to end this first report we congratulate the Castelo do Sonhos family Charity in Silves, who successfully organised the 18th Christmas shoebox for the elderly campaign.
The Public Security Police (PSP) seized on Friday, December 16, 25 thousand euros and 60 individual doses of cocaine during two house searches in the municipality of Faro , announced the security force.
The body was seen “floating off the marina” in the Algarve coastal town by a member of the public, who alerted the authorities at 11:21 am, and elements from the Faro Maritime Police Local Command and the Faro Maritime Station were called to help. Quarteira lifeguards , explained AMN in a statement.
And Finally can I take this opportunity to wish all our Algarve followers a very Happy Christmas and Stay Safe.
There will some traffic restrictions in Funchal on December 22nd, from 20h00 to 21h30, due to the athletics race (“X Grande Pr
The tourist train is be back in the Municipality of São Vicente, as part of a tour of nativity scenes (Cribs Route – Rota dos Presépios). Visitors will be able to travel on this train on January 7th and 8th, January 14th and 15th, and January 21st and 22nd). Each train will depart at 19h00 in São Vicente and its arrival will be at around 21h00. Fares can be purchased onboard the train and will cost €5. Children up to the age of 5 will be able to travel free of charge.
In terms of opportunist property crime the most frequent means of access is through open windows when the property is unoccupied. There is a simple message here spend 5 minutes before going out checking that windows and doors are closed and locked, lights switch on if at night time, cars locked if kept in a driveway or open car port.
“We are talking about restructuring, even from a legal point of view, we should talk about restructuring the SEF, because the skills and people who have these skills will continue to work in the internal security system. What is expected is that in the first quarter of 2023 we will have the conditions for this transition to take place”, José Luís Carneiro told journalists.
This entity clarifies that it only sends notifications by mail and that no indication of these emails should be followed. In addition to containing the image of the Road Safety Authority, some of these emails also have the image of the GNR and the PSP.
With the arrival of the cruise ship ‘Arcadia’ owed by P&O at the port of Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, The Azores broke the record for the most ships visiting in one year. Over 200 dockings have been recorded so far.
Clélio Meneses said that “prevention” is the executive’s main focus but acknowledged that there is also a need for intervention in treatment, risk reduction and damage minimization, appealing to the collaboration of society as a whole.