There were many complaints, but there is nothing to be done: the planes will continue to fly over Albufeira's historic centre, on their way down to Albufeira Airport. Faro. The National Civil Aviation Authority promoted, this Monday, April 1st, a clarification session, at the headquarters of the Algarve Tourism Region, in Faro, to respond to messages that arrive “in a systematic and uninterrupted manner” in your mailbox. These messages come from residents of Albufeira who complain about the noise and pollution caused by the aircraft.
On one side were representatives from the Airport of Faro, technicians and directors of ANAC, NAV and the president of the Algarve Tourism Region. Presentations were made, it was explained that that trajectory was studied in detail, which is followed by the "autopilot" of the aircraft, and that, even if it were possible to make a detour, it would imply greater fuel consumption, greater environmental impact and less safety for the aircraft.
A little more than a dozen people attended the audience, including Ana Maria Schreckenberg, representing "many people".
The resident regretted, in the first place, that the session had not taken place in Albufeira, where «there would be more people». As for what motivated that meeting, Ana Maria Scheckenberg explained that the residents she represents, "among them Germans, who are not here now", do not understand "why, given the possibility of having a [approach] route further to the right or further to the left, with less density of residents, the planes' path does not change.
«They always say it's because of the winds, but from Praia da Falésia to Vilamoura, there are fewer residents and there could be a small deviation. This street, where I live, where there are two schools and children… one wonders if it is even necessary for planes to pass over there, over a protected historic point», he added.
The problem is that it is really necessary: «it is not a question of choice, but of calculation. This is the optimal route that minimizes pollution and impact on the environment. Furthermore, according to all flight plans, the planes always fly over this area at more than 1000 meters of altitude”, and “comply with all overflight rules defined both nationally and internationally”, explained Luís Miguel Ribeiro, president of ANAC.
Bearing in mind that planes have to land against the wind, he continued, "only 27% of the days of the year do the planes fly over that area, when the wind blows from the east." On the remaining days of the year, when the wind blows from the West, the approach to the Airport is made from the Tavira side.
What is at stake is the turning point for alignment with the runway at the Airport of Faro of aircraft coming from the North, which is located off Albufeira and which was defined about 10 years ago.
Carlos Seruca Salgado, vice president of ANAC, former director of the Airport of Faro and from the Algarve, was also at the session and gave examples of how Albufeira is not even one of the most damaged cities.
«Although the planes fly over the historic center, at reduced speed, so as not to make noise with the wind, with the engine as if it were at idle, Albufeira does not suffer from take-offs. The take-offs all pass through the Quarteira/Vilamoura area and it's a big sacrifice for those who live there, because they get hit with the accelerated engines when they're taking off. not to mention Faro, which is the city that gets hit with all the noise, always going up and down».
"Quarteira suffers more, but complains less," joked Seruca Salgado.
However, Ana Maria Scheckenberg was not fully convinced by the explanations. The Albufeirense says that “it has been unbearable for days. They say planes don't fly there within a thousand meters, but I get the feeling that it's over my head. The flights pass over a street that has two schools and over the historic part, where there are 10 residents. There are a lot of sick people there, old people. The windowsills and surfaces are always black and people are always painting their houses because of pollution from the planes».
Even so, the representative of the contestants guarantees that she will “bring the message” to those who, according to Carlos Seruca Salgado, send e-mails “in a systematic and uninterrupted manner”.
Luís Miguel Ribeiro, the president of ANAC, is also not sure that the explanations given have served to clarify that the overflight of planes in Albufeira is a necessary evil. “We came here because we take seriously the issues raised, especially those that have to do with the quality of life of people affected by air transport. But we came here without the obligation to obtain a result. We don't know if the session was enough. We tried to have a posture of total openness and transparency. The population of Albufeira has been the most vocal, but it is not the most affected in the Algarve region».
About the fact that the session took place in Faro, and not in Albufeira, Luís Miguel Ribeiro justified the choice with the fact that the RTA auditorium has the capacity to receive a greater number of people. Which, after all, was not justified.
According to the official, what we wanted to say to Albufeires is that “we didn't decide and didn't draw those approaches to the track in a bureaucratic way, saying that it has to be there. We design because they guarantee lower noise levels and lower pollutant emissions with current technology. If the technology changes, naturally the approaches will be designed in order to optimize the processes and in order for us all to gain quality of life».
Although there is no solution to the problem in Albufeira, the Quarteira area may soon suffer less from the noise of planes taking off from Faro, as new procedures for take-off to the west are being designed by NAV, extending the turning point, which takes place at sea, by five kilometers. This causes aircraft to cross the coastline at a higher altitude.
“Take-off has a greater degree of freedom, in terms of trajectory, than landing. This extension to the sea of the ascent could reduce noise levels over Quarteira. All procedures are studied. We will have to design these routes to the various destinations and this takes some time. We think it will be good news for the population of Quarteira», concluded the president of ANAC.
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