This Friday, 27 August, the Municipal Aerodrome of Portimão marked the 50th anniversary of serving the region, with the unveiling of a commemorative plaque, which was followed by the inauguration of the traveling exhibition of photographs “Momentos do Aeródromo”, authored by by José Estiveira.
The 50th anniversary banner of the Portimão Aerodrome was symbolically handed over by skydive Algarve parachutist Bruno Geada to the mayor of Portimão, Isilda Gomes, who praised «the privileged capabilities for the practice of skydiving, daring to say that in the last ten years there have been millions of jumps here by parachutists from numerous countries, accompanied by their families, which has greatly boosted the local economy».
The mayor took the opportunity to greet «all the workers, as their commitment and dedication allows them to give a full response to the demanding requests they face on a daily basis, since in this area it is not possible to play, as the least carelessness can have serious consequences'.
In terms of future plans, Isilda Gomes defended that the Portimão Aerodrome «should become bigger and more operational, in order to better respond to needs», establishing a relationship with the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
«Those who come to the Autodromo are driven in their private jets, which park on the plates of the very busy Airport of Faro. Therefore, we have to think about enlarging our runway, giving more quality to this Aerodrome and, probably, making these aircrafts start to land here, following their passengers directly to the Autódromo», sustained the president.
The mayor also referred to an adjacent agricultural land, "which will be transferred to the municipality, and this will make it possible to improve existing conditions and accommodate larger aircraft, better serving the entire western Algarve", and thanked the companies based at the Portimão Aerodrome, whose activity will also benefit from this project.
In the commemoration of the anniversary of the Municipal Aerodrome of Portimão, sardine-shaped trophies were also presented to Commander António Cunha, for his contribution and work in the development and consolidation of the aerodrome, and posthumous public recognition to engineer Firmino Antunes de Moura, the first director of this municipal infrastructure.
The president of the Portuguese Parachuting Federation, Eduardo Manuel Rodrigues, and Colonel Jaime Marques, who also held the position of director of the Portimão Aerodrome, located in the Montes de Alvor area, also had the autarchy's thanks.
Throughout the day, passengers on the Portimão / Bragança line and customers of skydiving schools were presented with a promotional bag from the municipality of Portimão.
The programme, which began on 27 August, is the first phase of the half-century commemorations of the Portimão Aerodrome, which will run until the end of the year with other activities, to be announced in due course.
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