The Transport Working Group agreed at its last meeting that they would hold at least one quarterly meeting, so the Government Delegation will host a new meeting at the end of September.
This was announced by the Delegate of the Government in Melilla, Sabrina Moh, in the program ‘The Start’ of Television Melilla, in which she has highlighted the role of the Transport Working Group as a space for dialogue and coordination between administrations, social agents and the employers to face the challenges of connectivity in the city.
The highest representative of the Government of Spain in our city has explained that this group has allowed to share diagnoses and needs from different perspectives and to reach agreements, such as the proposal to establish a Public Service Obligation (OSP) to limit prices on the airline between our city and Madrid.
Although this initiative was promoted by the Government of Spain, it found a negative response from the European Commission. “It depends not only on the political will of the government, but also on a series of positive, necessary and previous reports,” explained the Delegate.
Operate flights with low clouds
Faced with this refusal, the Government has sought alternatives. One of them is the realization of a technical report to study the implementation of an approach system that allows operating flights with low clouds.
At this point, the Government Delegate has been very cautious, since although this report has been requested, she has insisted that it is necessary to wait to see the results that it produces.
With a view to convening the next Working Group, “in the event that we had the resolution of that report, we would address it within the Working Group, and if not, we would reconvene it when we had it, even if those three months did not pass,” he reported.
“If that report is favorable and you can install that approach system proposed by the Secretary General of Transport, here in Melilla, you could operate even with low clouds, but a feasibility report is required,” he said.
The Delegate stressed that “although we expanded the track, it would follow the problem of cancellations due to low cloud cover, and therefore it is not the solution”, while pointing out that “we have to focus where the problem is, and the problem is right now on this issue of low clouds”.
“If this report is favorable, we can have a solution to these low clouds in our city, and we will not need implementation of anything, but with the resources we already have, and through allotments and accreditations to guarantee the safety of the passenger and the crew, because it would be launched,” he said.
In connection with this issue, Moh also welcomed the extension of the airport hours, which has made it possible to avoid cancellations due to the closure of facilities. “Before, a small delay could mean that the plane did not land. Now that has been solved”, he said, adding that it has also improved the frequency and flexibility of flights, avoiding unnecessary overnight stays outside the city.