The Portuguese Weather Institute has recently issued a yellow warning for precipitation, with periods of rain, sometimes heavy, valid between midnight and noon of next Tuesday, June 2.

The notice covers the north and south coasts of Madeira, as well as the mountainous regions, but also the island of Porto Santo.

First Binter plane carries just 3 passengers

The first flight to Porto Santo this morning carried just 3 passengers as the inter-island link resumed after two months of absence due to pandemic.

The ATR72 returned to Madeira at 8:30 am. It will return to Porto Santo at 4:55 pm and be back in Madeira at 5:55 pm. The ATR 72 landed around 6:00 pm on Sunday, in Madeira, to resume the inter-island connection.

The Diario reports online that the President of the National Association of Public Health Doctors, Ricardo Mexia, warned last night, in an interview with TVI24, that specialists have doubts on screening with tests on tourists who will arrive at Madeira Airport from July 1 and believes the tests will “not be particularly effective” in detecting patients with COVID-19.

“We have such problems with people who are in their incubation period. I can take the test at the airport and the test is negative and be a test with a correct diagnosis. And the next day I develop the disease”, exemplified the doctor of Public Health of the Department of Epidemiology of the Ricardo Jorge Institute, who also considers that“ the window for detection is small (…) and improbable” because in practice we are talking about people who, when they left their countries or regions, were in good health and who got sick or developed symptoms during the flight. “I have doubts if screening on arrival is a measure that can solve the problem for us. You can give us some data, you can identify some cases, but I would say that there will surely be few (who would not be identified)”, added Ricardo Mexia.

In view of the low efficiency of airport screening and taking into account that the pandemic situation “is not yet over, neither in Portugal, nor in most other countries, but in all,” the public health doctor concludes that “we have to be cautious ”.

Meanwhile, the health authorities in Madeira, announced in their latest update yesterday that three more cases have recovered from COVID-19 on another day that saw no new cases.

The Diario reports online that starting tomorrow, June 1, the major bathing complexes in the Funchal, managed by the controversial company Frente MarFunchal will have new schedules.

Lido and Ponta Gorda:

Morning: 8:30 – 13:30

Afternoon: 15:00 – 20:00

Barreirinha and Poças do Gomes:

Morning: 9:00 – 13:30

Afternoon: 15:30 – 20:00

The Diario reports that the political movement “Mais Porto Santo” (More Porto Santo) has welcomed Binter’s return to the Madeira/Porto Santo connection. The airline will resume flights between the islands tomorrow, June 1, after the connection was suspended in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Since the (beginning), the ‘Mais Porto Santo’ Movement has sided with Porto Santo’s interests, urging permanent contacts between the airline, the Regional Government and the Government of the Republic so that the route could be resumed as quickly as possible. possible” they say in a press release. ‘Mais Porto Santo’ considers that the reinstatement of the air link “will help in the necessary resumption of economic activity on the island of Porto Santo”.

However, they say that afternoon flights could have a different time, “later in the day in order to allow Portosantans who have to travel to Madeira for professional activities to enjoy the day, not having to return as early as 4:55 pm”.

Furthermore, the movement is also pleased that, as of tomorrow, the daily connection of the ‘Lobo Marinho’ ferry will return (with the usual exception of Tuesday). “that, accompanied by the decision we claimed to subsidize the trip to Porto Santo of Madeirans throughout the year, will greatly help the local economy”, they conclude.

JM today headlines the imminent arrival of the firefighting helicopter, which is due in Madeira tomorrow.

The newspaper reports that the apparatus for fighting fires comes by boat to the Region. After the propellers are assembled in Caniçal, you will be able to train at the Regional Civil Protection Service and arrive in time for the start of the Operational Fire Fighting Plan, which begins on June 15th

The helicopter is arriving a lot earlier than last year when it was delayed, not arriving until 17th June, two days after the official fire-risk “season” began.

The other headline in the paper is that the closed port due to coronavirus pandemic has resulted in the loss of 79 cruise ships; during the “lockdown” Madeira lost 79 ships that were scheduled to call. The photo illustrates a deserted port, which hasn’t seen a cruise ship since early March.

Thanks to Jaime for a link to the Telegraph, who reported late last week that Britons could have to take 20-minute coronavirus tests before arriving at the airport under proposals being considered by ministers as part of a bid to enable holidays abroad this summer.   

The newspaper reports that a committee of experts, including scientists, ministers, civil servants and aviation chiefs is considering tests that would enable travellers to sidestep quarantine and could be used to replace travel restrictions.  They are also working on “travel corridors” to link the UK to low-risk destinations by air, land and sea as the most immediate way to lift the 14-day quarantines for holidays before the end of the summer.  

The quarantine for all international arrivals to the UK – including returning Britons – is due to be introduced on June 8 requiring them to self-isolate for 14 days.  It will be reviewed by June 29 which is seen by ministers as a potential first date to open up “air corridors” and trial coronavirus tests although the aviation industry is pressing for a quicker start.

Air corridors

Madeira could well be one of the first “air corridors”, based on the very low level of positive tests throughout the pandemic – the lowest region in Portugal by some margin, with 90 cases in total, and no new ones for the last 25 days. 73 persons have already recovered, with 17 cases still on the way to recovery. The only change reported by the Institute of Health Administration IASAÚDE yesterday was the number of people on active surveillance, which went down from 391 the previous day to 250.

Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said he was “a little more optimistic” about reviving foreign travel this summer.  Asked if people could now hope for a July holiday abroad, he said: “I absolutely wouldn’t rule it out. We’ve got to proceed cautiously… I definitely wouldn’t say no and I know how important it is for so many people.”

Greece and Iceland already offer coronavirus tests to arriving travellers with results returned within 24 hours, enabling them to avoid quarantine. Madeira plans to do the same from July 1. Vienna airport offers a similar service for €190 with test results back in half an hour.  Emirates, Dubai’s state-owned carrier, trialled a swab test for passengers on one of its flights to Tunisia last month. Their results were returned within ten minutes enabling the coronavirus checks to be completed during check-in.

Common International Standards

A Department for Transport source said: “What is being mooted is a mutually recognised test where a foreign businessman, say, has a test a day before flying that is accredited. It could enable people to travel but maintain public health.”  The other option being considered is to screen at the airport before flights although there are concerns about the practicality and potential delays if passenger numbers increase.  

The moves come amid growing criticism of quarantine as nearly 80 leading names in the tourist industry and a cross-party group of 40 MPs including seven former ministers urged Government on Wednesday to ditch the “unworkable” plans. The same day Boris Johnson told MPs he wanted to have “as sensible a quarantine scheme as possible and to keep flows as generous as we can”.

The Prime Minister indicated “air bridges” could be implemented by the end of June, providing the UK reached agreements with countries deemed to be low-risk. “There is certainly a willingness in Government to try to do as much for this summer as is safe,” said a Department for Transport (DfT) source. Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Germany are expected to have lifted border and quarantine restrictions for tourists by mid-June so that most holiday travel could open up in July.  

A new internationally-agreed set of standards for “safe” post-coronavirus travel is being drawn up by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) which would cover the conditions for “travel corridors” or “air bridges” between countries. This would include the transmission rates expected of participating countries,  the defences each country would have to have in place to combat coronavirus infections and the health measures expected during travel to minimise the risk of catching the disease.   

Air travel corridors

Karen Dee, chief Executive of the Airport Operators’ Association, said the guidelines offered the chance for the Government to introduce air and travel corridors at the same time as it imposed a quarantine on June 8.  “Our neighbours and key trading partners are taking steps to lift their blanket travel restrictions such as quarantine requirements towards a science-led, risk-based approach. The UK now needs to do the same as soon as possible, or risk being left behind,” she told The Daily Telegraph. 

“With European guidelines ensuring there is a common standard for health measures to protect air passengers and staff, the right conditions are in place to open up air corridors to many of our European neighbours as soon as quarantine restrictions come in place on June 8.   “This would benefit not just aviation but also the thousands of businesses and millions of jobs that depend on air connectivity, such as in tourism, manufacturing and the UK food industry.”

Henry Smith, chair of the 40-strong group of MPs, said quarantine was “well-intentioned” but “unworkable” and was being implemented at the wrong time when the rest of Europe was opening up.  He said air and travel corridors offered the best “short-term” solution with  testing a potential component. “One of the biggest answers to this is getting an international consensus,” he said. “We need to revive aviation before the bulk of the summer travel season, ideally by July 1 but as soon as possible.”  

Thanks to Peter for a link to Correio dos Açores, reporting that, in terms of results, the Açores Airline business group has highlighted “the improvement in the net and operating results of both air carriers that offset the strong impact that debt and debt interest continue to assume in the year”.

SATA, founded in 1941, is today a group of five companies; SATA Air Açores, SATA Internacional – Azores Airlines, Azores Vacations America, Azores Airlines Vacations Canada and SATA Gestão de Aeródromos. The company is based in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, on São Miguel island, in the municipality of Ponta Delgada. With different legal identities, these companies describe themselves as being “of paramount importance as a means of regulating the accessibility of the inhabitants of the islands of the Azores and as an indispensable instrument for the consolidation and economic and social development of the Autonomous Region”.

“Essentially,” says the board of Directors, “the financial recovery of Grupo SATA is dependent on the implementation of the companies’ recapitalization plan, which will enable it to achieve its operational and financial balance”. A new Chairman was appointed at the end of last year.

With regard to the airline SATA Air Açores, there is “an inversion of the negative results, with the results obtained a significant improvement”, with the net result for the year to register in 2019 around €2m versus €2.6m loss from the same period of 2018. SATA Air Açores’s operating result stood at 2.3 million Euro, versus the negative €1.9m recorded in 2018.

The net profit for the year of SATA Internacional – Azores Airlines was €55.8m in losses, which, the company says, shows an improvement of €7.6m (+ 12%) compared to the period year-on-year, with an “improvement in operating results” of around 15.8 M € (+ 26%), with a 6% increase in revenues.

In turn, SATA Gestão de Aeródromos posted a net result of €68.700 (versus 1.9 million euros in 2018) “strongly impacted by EBITDA and the adoption of new accounting standards, in addition to the recorded fall in 2019 revenue and increased spending on supplies and external services ”.
In the press release, the Board of Directors notes the results obtained by the two companies of the group based in the Azores, and the results of the subsidiaries Azores Vacation America and Azores Vacation Canada are yet to be incorporated.

The acting Board of Directors took office in January 2020, so the analysis carried out on the accounts for the previous year, as justified, “stems from a formal exercise and not from a more in-depth knowledge of the circumstances in which 2019 took place.

Following on from a previous post about the tourism reopening in Portugal from June, EIN Presswire reports that Portugal’s once-booming tourism sector collapsed in April as lockdowns to contain the spread of the coronavirus grounded flights and kept away visitors, particularly from Britain, the country’s largest market.

The Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE) said in its flash estimate on Friday the number of overnight stays by foreign tourists in Portugal dropped 98.3% to nearly 71,000 last month from the previous year.

Overnight stays by Britons fell 99.3% in April compared to the same period in 2019, followed by a massive drop in the German and Spanish markets, decreasing 98.9% and 98.1% respectively.

Portugal, which has so far recorded 31,946 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 1,383 deaths (as of yesterday – Friday), is slowly easing restrictions in place since it locked down in mid-March. Most stores and restaurants have already reopened.

Though the country’s borders never fully shut to European nations, with the exception of its land border with hard-hit neighbouring Spain, most hotels decided to close as there were limited flights and no customers.

Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva said on Friday Portugal’s doors were open to tourists.

Last month around 80.6% of tourist accommodation establishments, from small hotels to resorts, were shut, INE said, adding around 78% experienced cancellations of bookings scheduled for between March and August this year.

In 2019, more than 16 million foreign tourists visited Portugal, almost 20% of them from Britain.

Portugal and Britain are in talks to try and secure an air corridor for tourists that would allow British visitors to avoid a COVID-19 quarantine upon returning home.

The tourism industry contributed around 15% to gross domestic product in 2018, according to official data.

Unemployment in the Algarve region more than doubled in April compared with the same month last year as the lockdown wiped out seasonal jobs.

The International Monetary Fund expects the economy to contract by 8% this year, above the European Commission’s predictions of a 6.8% drop.

Also on Friday, INE said output shrank 2.3% in the first quarter of 2020 from a year earlier.

JM reports that Pedro Ramos, regional secretary for Health and Civil Protection, announced yesterday that as of July 1, tourists who arrive in Madeira without a negative result for COVID-19 taken in the previous 72 hours will have to perform a test immediately, but will then be able to follow their normal routine without knowing the result of the laboratory test.

The regional secretary says that the results will be known in 12 hours, but until then there will be no restrictions on anyone’s movements.

Afar magazine observes that although its land borders with Spain remain closed until June 15, flights to mainland Portugal are still available – at a reduced level, but not eliminated. Routes are currently available between Portugal and the USA, Canada, UK, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Venezuela, South Africa, and Brazil (the last three all having a strong Portuguese connection).

From June 4, TAP Portugal plans to expand flight service between Lisbon Airport and Newark International Airport to address the previously growing demand from the North American market, and from June 6, travellers from all EU countries except Spain and Italy may enter by air. 

Shops, zoos, and cultural facilities like museums and monuments are open, and public transport is operational. Some restaurants and bars are open, albeit serving a reduced number of patrons and closing a little earlier (11:00 pm). Social distancing and masks are required for use on public transport as well as at many attractions.

Mainland tourism in Portugal starts June 1

June 1 marks the official start to the final phase of reopening for both tourism and the local population. That day, the public may also return to theatres and cinemas (at reduced capacity) and shopping centres. The blue and white “Clean and Safe” seal can be found at accommodation and tour operators – the optional seal, awarded by Turismo de Portugal, lasts for a year and certifies that the bearer meets certain hygiene requirements and follows strict safety protocols to help prevent the spread of illness.

As detailed here previously Madeira will not open for tourism until July 1.

Forbes online has recently singled out the beach on Porto Santo as one of the safest to visit in these coronavirus-stricken times. In Madeira, the accolade has been picked up by the Diario – Porto Santo comes in at position 4 in the top 10.

They report that the European Best Destinations Organization (EBD) which falls under the European Commission’s EDEN Network (“European Destinations of Excellence”) dedicated to promote sustainable tourism in the continent, has selected the safest beaches in Europe post-Covid-19. The selection is based on various criteria such as low ratio of coronavirus infection,(from 10- to 600-times fewer cases), the size of the beaches and the number of square metres available on the beach per person.

#4: PORTO SANTO, MADEIRA ISLANDS, PORTUGAL

Portugal is considered one of the safest destinations this summer: regions including the Azores, the Alentejo and the Algarve have been relatively spared from contagion compared to the rest of Europe. Madeira, in fact, is the least-affected region of Portugal.

“After months of confinement it is a perfect destination to relax in nature. Madeira is an archipelago made up of several islands. There is Madeira, the main island but also other small islands like Porto Santo, (5,500 inhabitants),” writes EBD.

The golden, sandy beaches of Porto Santo are world-famous, in particular for the therapeutic virtues of the sand known as “psammotherapy” (hot sands). Porto Santo spas alternate seawater treatments and warm-sand treatments.

It reopenes to travelers on July 1.

JM report on the year’s second initiative of the Jornadas Madeira, one of their own events, which took place yesterday in the Grand Hall of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira and agreed that there was “no money for everybody”. The meeting highlighted the countless concerns of the region’s business sector which concluded that the future will be difficult and that not everyone will be able to get out of this crisis. The recovery will take time and there are no lines to help everyone.

The “no money for all” message was heard at the “Madeira 2020 Days” and is the highlight of the front page of today’s newspaper. The Legislative Assembly of Madeira says that the Region is entitled to €650 million European fund for the country.

Venezuela repatriation flight

JM also reports that Venezuela has a repatriation flight scheduled for June 13, describing it as “a situation that is certainly pleasing all those who were waiting for this opportunity to return to Madeira”. A lot had already returned last year.

The Diario reports that the Regional Government yesterday afternoon went through the technicality of declaring disaster situation in Madeira between 1 and 30 June. The declaration, made by the Regional President Miguel Albequerque, makes it possible to continue taking extraordinary measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic

The declaration of the situation of calamity in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, for public health reasons with the aim of containing the pandemic COVID-19, is effective from 00:00 on June 1, 2020 until 11:59 pm on June 30, 2020.

Principally these measures deal with procedures to be followed at the airport, and “determine the confinement, if necessary, compulsorily, for a period of fourteen days, of all persons and their luggage that disembark at Madeira and Porto Santo Airports, and who do not carry a negative test for COVID-19 carried out in the 72 hours prior to disembarkation, in laboratories certified by national or international authorities ”. However, this does not apply to people domiciled in Madeira or Porto Santo, who travel between the two islands.

The Diario reports online that the values ​​that the banks place on housing in April 2020, which serve as a reference for them to grant credit for the purchase of a property, followed opposite paths in the Autonomous Region of Madeira when compared with those of other regions in the country. While apartments accounted for the biggest contribution to national statistics, housing accounted for the biggest increase in the context of Portugal. This is according to data released this morning by the National Statistics Institute (INE) and referring to a month when the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the everyone’s life, but without great repercussions on the appreciation of homes.

Thus, in April, the median value of the house valuation reached €1,147/square metre, nine euros more than in March. Madeira is the third region with the highest value for the home purchase in seven regions of the country, well above the average (€1,111), around €36, just behind Lisbon and the Algarve.

Specifically, with regard to apartments, the fall was -0.7% for an average value of €1,156/m2, minus €8/m2 and well below the national average (€1,210/m2). A year ago (April 2019), the average valuation of apartments in the Region was €56 less (€1,100/m2)

easyJet plans to slash 30% of its staff as the company warns flight demand will not fully recover until 2023. The company said this morning that it will launch an employee consultation process on proposals to reduce staff numbers.

In announcing the staff cuts easyJet is following the example of BA and Virgin who have already announced job cuts in the light of the coronavirus pandemic. At the moment easyJet plans to resume flights in the middle of June

The Luton based carrier has 15,000 full-time employees, meaning 4,500 jobs are at risk. Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “We realise that these are very difficult times and we are having to consider very difficult decisions which will impact our people, but we want to protect as many jobs as we can for the long-term.

Johan Lundgren, easyJet chief executive, said: “We realise that these are very difficult times and we are having to consider very difficult decisions which will impact our people, but we want to protect as many jobs as we can for the long-term.

“As a result, we anticipate reducing staff numbers by up to 30% across the business and we will continue to remove cost and non-critical expenditure at every level. We will be launching an employee consultation over the coming days.”

easyJet also plans to slash operating costs

The job cuts come as the company looks to slash costs across the group’s operation. The firm said it will cut its marketing budget, as well as spend on ground handling and maintenance (a bit risky that – remind me to travel Jet2!). It added that by the end of next year it expects to have reduced the size of its fleet by around 51 aircraft to approximately 302. easyJet also hopes to reduce costs by revising its contracts with airports

The airline also gave details of new onboard safety measures ahead of flights resuming on 15 June, including the mandatory wearing of face masks. The company’s fleet has been grounded since 30 March. It has also called for the ending of quarantine in Madeira.

The front page of the Diario leads with a report on another instance of a construction company breaking the rules after Tecnovia was caught digging and dismantling stone in Fundoa, in the municipality of Funchal, in a dangerous area and on the margins of a Regional Government contract. The Funchal City Council has confirmed the lack of a license and has already opened a case of “administrative offence”. 

The newspaper also reports on another associated theme: the risks of landslides and floods in the valleys of the rivers of the Funchal, which apparently requires more attention – another recurring story.

Tourism promotion controversy

Another of the themes in focus on the cover is Tourism, specifically a controversy triggered by Miguel Albuquerque’s statements: “Cutting back on promotion gives a fight” – Entrepreneurs ask for information at the source, before the hotel industry dies.

Yesterday, the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party of Madeira said considers that the decision of the President of the Regional Government, regarding the reduction in support to promote the destination of Madeira is a “maladjusted” decision at the current moment.

“In a phase like this and in view of the difficulties facing the great engine of the regional economy, not placing tourism at the top of the priorities for the recovery, a sector on which thousands of families in the Region depend, directly and indirectly, shows the irresponsibility and lack strategy of this Regional Government “, said Sérgio Gonçalves deputy of the PS-M.

The Diario reports that airline Binter will resume flights between Madeira and Porto Santo from next Monday, June 1, now that the conditions necessary to resume the service have been agreed after changes to the quarantine conditions due to the crisis caused by COVID-19. Starting today, tickets can be purchased under the usual conditions.

In a statement sent, Binter points out that “the permanent contact between the airline, the Regional Government of Madeira and the Government of the Republic, allowed the route to be resumed as soon as possible in order to provide the air service between Madeira and Porto Santo, as he had been doing until the sudden arrival of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, which forced all countries in the world to cancel air, sea and land connections between territories. ”

The airline slightly adjusted the start times for operational reasons. The first flight will depart from Funchal Airport at 07:30 and the return from Porto Santo will be at 08:30. The afternoon flights will leave Madeira at 16:55 to start the return from Porto Santo at 17:50.

Starting today, tickets can be purchased under the usual conditions through the airline’s sales channels: www.binter.pt, telephone 291 290 129 and travel agencies.

Following up on the last detailed post yesterday, breaking the news that the island will officially reopen to tourism on July 1, the Mail Online reports that “the Portuguese holiday island of Madeira has announced it will pay for all tourists to have a coronavirus test on arrival.

“The archipelago, along with its sister island Porto Santo, is set to open to international travellers again from July 1.

“But to be allowed in, tourists will either have to present documentation showing they’ve had a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours prior to arriving in Madeira or show they’re in the clear from a free test administered upon arrival. 

“According to the Madeira tourism board, the islands are focusing on positioning themselves as ‘COVID-safe destinations’ and are working with SGS, the ‘world leader in hygiene certification’, to ensure ‘good practice across the destination to minimise risk in the wake of the pandemic’.

FN report that according to the latest information released yesterday by the Institute of Health Administration IASAÚDE, there are no developments in the epidemiological situation of the Region, as the period without any new cases reached a landmark 21 days. The cumulative total of 90 positive cases identified in the Region is thereby maintained, with 67 cases recovered and 23 cases of active infection, none of which require hospital care. According to the Diario, of the cases still active, twenty relate to residents in the municipality of Câmara de Lobos, one in the municipality of Funchal and another in Ponta do Sol (no idea where the missing one has gone?).

According to Bruna Gouveia, vice president of IASAÚDE, to date, a total of 1543 suspected cases of COVID-19 have been reported, of which 1453 have not been confirmed; 453 people are currently being monitored by the health authorities of the various counties in the region – 303 people are under active surveillance and 150 are in self-surveillance.

Regarding the lines created within the scope of the Contingency Plan for COVID-19, the total number of services provided by the IASAUDE psychological monitoring line (291 212 399) is now 997, with 116 people being monitored by the Institute’s professionals.

Contacts for the SRS24 Line (800 24 24 20) total 7925, with 29 calls in the last 24 hours. Regarding other tests for COVID-19 screening carried out, it is noted that the total of samples processed at the Clinical Pathology Laboratory of SESARAM, E.P.E. number 11,583 to date.

More detailed information on the epidemiological situation in RAM is available at www.covidmadeira.pt, which features a video from Discover Madeira: “Dream online, visit us later”

The following press release was received by the blog this afternoon from the Office of His Excellency, the Regional Secretary for Tourism and Culture, Dr. Eduardo Jesus. No graphics on this, as it is quite an important announcement regarding the restart of tourism on the island!

The Autonomous Region of Madeira (RAM) decided to restart tourist activity for July 1, the date on which the mandatory quarantine is eliminated.
The recovery will be carried out safely with a view to recovering the confidence of all travellers, workers in the sector and the population in general.
The path taken by RAM, in the pandemic combat, placed it, due to the measures adopted and the results obtained, in an extraordinarily favourable situation, not only because of the extremely small number of positive cases (90) but also because there was never any active contamination and there was no death caused by COVID-19.
RAM was a pioneer, in Portugal, in the creation of a Good Practice document, resulting from the involvement of the entire tourism sector and the option for the Certification of Destination in matters of health security reinforces the position assumed before all those who intend to visit the islands of Madeira or Porto Santo.

Tests to be carried out upon arrival

Consolidating the work done, the Regional Government of Madeira (GRM) opted to carry out tests, on all travellers, upon arrival in RAM. This measure allows all visitors to be sure that, in addition to finding a population without the presence of the virus, all those who entered were duly analyzed, thus promoting a highly secure and expressive environment. confidence levels.
In order not to result in any extra cost for visitors, the GRM decided to assume all the costs related to the performance of the tests on arrival at the RAM, which can, however, be avoided if the passenger chooses to present a PCR test with a negative result, carried out in the last 72 hours before landing time.
The whole process of carrying out the tests on arrival in the Autonomous Region of Madeira is being prepared by the Regional Health Authority, with the collaboration of ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, and seeks the greatest speed and the least inconvenience for travellers. The details of this same procedure will be known in due course.

June: Quarantine can be avoided

In addition, during the month of June, mandatory quarantine can be avoided by travellers who present a PCR test with a negative result, carried out in the last 72 hours at the time of disembarkation, with no restriction on circulation in the Region for these passengers. Autonomous Madeira.
The epidemiological evolution inherent to COVID-19 will be taken into account in the development of the reopening plan defined for the Autonomous Region of Madeira.
It should be noted that movement between the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo is exempt from any control of the health status of the respective travellers.
The Regional Government of Madeira, through the Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Culture, and the Madeira Promotion Association work in harmony in affirming partnerships with all stakeholders and it is our desire to continue to count on you, always maintaining a direct and open channel for sharing. knowledge and experience, affirming the permanent availability of our teams.

Hopefully tourism will return in some form at that point, but the predictable solution does not address the situation where somebobody infected climbs on the plane with you and it is not discovered until they test upon arrival.