Gago Coutinho, «an illustrious soldier and scientist, great Algarve and national hero», already gives the name to the Airport of Faro. The official ceremony of rename of this infrastructure «of crucial importance for the Algarve and national economy» took place on the morning of this Wednesday, 7 de September, with the presence of the Prime Minister.
António Costa arrived – and left – by plane (one of them, a KC-390 that Portugal will buy from the Brazilian Air Force) to preside over the official naming ceremony of Gago Coutinho International Airport.
The date chosen, as he explained, was not “coincidence”. This year marks the centenary of the first aerial crossing of the North Atlantic, made by Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral.
Furthermore, it is also today, the 7th of September, that marks the bicentennial of the independence of Brazil, a country where the two Portuguese aviators arrived on the 17th of June 1922, after having departed, on the 30th of March, from Lisbon.
Admiral Gago Coutinho, with family roots in São Brás de Alportel, was the navigator of this adventure of 4500 nautical miles (8300 kilometers). Piloting the seaplane was Commander Sacadura Cabral.
In his speech, the Prime Minister highlighted the «important contribution of these remarkable Portuguese aviators» who, in an «enterprise made of daring, heroism and innovation», crossed the Atlantic.
For António Costa, giving the name of Gago Coutinho to the former International Airport of Faro It is an initiative of «high symbolic value» that, «at the right time» was proposed by AMAL – Comunidade Intermunicipal do Algarve.
Because, he considered, this is an «infrastructure of crucial importance for the Algarve and national economy».
The head of government also alluded to the fact that this renaming took place in a «year strongly marked by the sustained recovery of tourism in Portugal and especially in the Algarve».
This was a "happy" day for the group of citizens who had long hoped that Gago Coutinho would name the Airport of Faro.
Martins Guerreiro, captain of Abril, was one of the faces of this group of people, which also includes Algarvians like Carlos Brito, Afonso Dias and Luís Filipe Madeira, all members of the Constituent Assembly.
In statements to the Sul Informação, Martins Guerreiro was «very satisfied» that this wish had been fulfilled.
«It is a very happy day for everyone, for the Algarve and for Faro also. With the name Gago Coutinho, this airport will have an even greater international projection», he considered.
The ceremony was also attended by Pedro Nuno Santos, Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Helena Carreiras, Minister of Defence, the Chiefs of Staff of the Navy, Air Force and Army, mayors and holders of political positions in the region and national entities of the civil and commercial aviation.
Nicolas Notebaert, CEO of VINCI Concessions and President of VINCI Airports was also present, who, in statements to journalists, presented the commitment that, in 10 years, Portuguese airports «have zero carbon emissions».
«As a country, this means that Portugal can become the first in Europe and the World to be carbon neutral», he concluded.
Photos: Pedro Lemos | Sul Informação
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