The creation of direct and indirect employment and the development of the flying school, attracting “apprentice pilots” from countries with harsh autumns and winters, are the justification for the construction of the future aerodrome in Loulé. The construction and development of the future Algarve Aerodrome could create more than 150 direct and indirect jobs, says the President of the Aero Clube do Algarve (ACA).

Francisco Soares bases his calculations on studies which say that it is reasonable to expect one worker in an aerodrome like this to represent a further four indirect jobs connected with a range of external services supporting the activity and the infrastructure.

The President of the ACA also points out that this activity, in addition to providing facilities for aircraft and private jets, could help to develop the existing flying school, going from one course per year for seven students to a number of classes of ten students in the same period of time.

Francisco Soares said that there has been long-standing interest from foreign flying schools in the Algarve and that at the end of the nineties a group that had come from a school in England to fly in Faro were surprised by the weather conditions in the region for this kind of course, and he pointed out that doing the practical part of a course in their country in the winter would be unthinkable.

The President of the ACA said that their lack of good technical and logistical conditions meant that it was not viable to continue the partnership, but interest had also been shown by Nordic countries.

Francisco Soares said that the weather conditions are connected with the development of this aeronautical activity for pilot training, but it could also be extended to the manufacture and maintenance of leisure aircraft.

In connection with this, a company already wanted to open in the Algarve to provide maintenance and repairs for this type of aircraft, both for those based here and those just passing through, but there was almost no interest from the powers that be, he complained.

Francisco Soares said that the future Algarve Aerodrome, in terms of the initial project, will have the possibility to create at least four hangars, which would allow at least one company for assembling aeroplanes to come here, as has already happened in Lisbon and is planned for Beja and Évora.

The Aero Clube do Algarve hopes that the new aerodrome can stimulate other areas such as air tourism and will contribute to the social aspect, in terms of air surveillance, and search and rescue work.

In addition, the President of the Loulé Council, the municipality where the facility will be located, said that the facility was fundamental for the enhancement of quality tourism and tourism targeting people with high purchasing power.

According to Seruca Emídio, it is planned that this facility will be located near the CIMPOR factory, with good access to the tourist complexes, the Via do Infante motorway and the Faro International Airport.

The construction of this aerodrome is part of the “Vilamoura XXI” project which provides for funds in the order of a million and a half euros for acquiring land for the creation of this area which is already mapped on the Municipal Planning Document.

For the implementation of this project, the Parque das Cidades company, together with the National Civil Aviation Institute and ANA S.A. is drafting a preliminary study for drawing up the future detailed plan for the aerodrome.

 

source: algarve observer