In an interview with Lusa, Ricardo D'Abreu also stressed that there will be additional capitalization with Government support for the air carrier, but he declined to define deadlines for fulfilling the announced privatization of the company.
"Portugal continues to be our main destination, the Porto route was regularly constituted by TAAG, who discovered the Porto route was TAAG", he said, asked about the intention to resume this route, following the recent decision of the Portuguese counterpart TAP.
"It does not mean that TAAG does not return to Porto as it has always been there, we will perhaps do Porto in a different format than TAP and we will then see how the two airlines compete on the same route as is the case today with Lisbon," said the governing body, forwarding the announcement of this decision to the company's management.
However, he admitted that flights to the second largest Portuguese city should resume later this year: "In principle, yes".
Ricardo D'Abreu also underlined that TAAG is also "looking for other geographies" because it is important to diversify routes and new destinations to attract more passengers and cargo.
On the labor conflict that the company faced in previous months, related to the company's restructuring plan, the minister noted that the agreements established with the different unions, which are in progress, are being implemented, with greater internal stability today, which allows recovering the operational levels that existed before the pandemic.
"We are already managing to reach pre-pandemic levels, in 2019. We had a significant reduction in operating costs and a remarkable level of recovery in terms of operation", having reached pre-pandemic levels with regard to domestic flights.
According to the person in charge of Transport, this capitalization and financial restructuring procedure will not be carried out exclusively through the injection of capital, but involves "an exercise that results from accounting and tax compensation" with other entities and public companies.
Part of this capital injection will be directed to support the purchase of aircraft, which "will not be done in the traditional way, part will be own acquisition and another in leasing contracts with the manufacturers".
As for privatization, everything is yet to be defined, as it is not a priority for the government. "It seemed to us that it was more important to ensure the stabilization of the restructuring process, for the company to reach its fair value and then dive into the preparation of the privatization process."
Regarding the new airport, about 40 kilometers from the city and which should be inaugurated before the end of the year, Ricardo D'Abreu guaranteed that everything is being done so that accessibility, essential for the viability and competitiveness of the airport, is completed and believes that mobility will improve with the creation of the new airport city of Icolo e Bengo.
In progress is the completion of the railway branch, from Bungo station with four more stations to the airport, which should be completed by the end of July, construction of new roads and rehabilitation of existing ones, with the creation of specific corridors, improvement of the surroundings and introduction of new public transport services.
On the other hand, the airport infrastructure must also be transferred in the next few months to the operational phase that allows the certification of the airport itself.
The Sociedade Gestora de Aeroportos (SGA) will be the temporary operator, but the government will launch an international public tender, which should be launched at the end of July to find an external private partner "with experience and dimension", the minister said.
In addition to Mota-Engil, there are Portuguese, French, Spanish, United Arab Emirates and African entities that have already expressed interest, according to Ricardo D'Abreu.
As for the old airport, which has been in operation for almost 70 years, it will not be deactivated and will be directed towards executive and specialized aviation and will be able to host other activities such as training.
