“All the tools that are available to the Government of Spain and that serve to improve transport, we are going to make them available to respond to a structural problem,” said Government Delegate Sabrina Moh.
The highest representative of the Government of Spain in our city has valued in a “very positive” way the meeting of the Transport Working Group, held yesterday in the city. As he explained, this meeting represented “a space for dialogue with broad institutional and social representation”, in which different proposals were addressed and the commitment of all administrations to move forward in concrete solutions was reiterated.
Asked about the announcement of the study that Transportes is going to commission Enaire to analyze the feasibility of a new approach and landing procedure at the airport of Melilla with the aim of reducing the number of cancellations for low visibility, Sabrina Moh has pointed out that this “should not be eternalized in time”, according to the Secretary General of Air and Maritime Transport, Benito Núñez.
“If feasible, this system would not require additional facilities or material resources, as it would operate via satellite and only require certification by aircraft,” he said.
The head of the Government Delegation pointed out that this new technology could represent a decisive advance against cancellations due to low visibility conditions. “We have to be careful, because we are waiting for the result of the study, but we have already put the spotlight on this possibility,” he said.
Sabrina Moh has highlighted the work done in recent years on connectivity: “The substantial difference is that we have created spaces for debate, we are committed to improving services, and we continue to advance in all possibilities that can translate into real advances for citizens.”
Thus, he recalled measures already promoted by the Government of Spain, such as the change of classification of the airport from 2C to 3C or the extension of the operating hours, which open the door to operate with aircraft of greater capacity than the ATR 72 that we have right now.
Continue advancing in connectivity
The Delegate has detailed that during the meeting the proposal to establish a Public Service Obligation (PSO) to limit the price of air tickets between Melilla and Madrid was addressed. As reported, the European Commission has issued an unfavourable report on this initiative: “As it was proposed, it is not viable. An exhaustive study has been carried out that also included Menorca and Lanzarote, and the response has been negative”, he explained.
However, Moh has assured that work continues to explore other formulas within the framework of the OSP, both for the destinations of Madrid and Malaga. “We want to see all possible options that can help to take into account the issue of tariffs,” he said.
In this regard, it has recognized that, although the average price of tickets is usually kept within reasonable parameters, sometimes tickets purchased at short notice can reach “excessively high” prices. Therefore, he insisted that they will “study possible measures to improve flight accessibility, always listening to all the sectors involved and looking for viable solutions”.
But not only that, as part of this commitment, it has been agreed to convene regular meetings of the Working Group once a quarter. Thus, the next session will be held in the last week of September with the aim of taking stock of Operation Strait Pass (OPE) and making further progress on the various proposals on maritime and air transport.