Portugal Air Summit may “fly” to Spain in future editions – Observador
The Iberian aeronautics summit Portugal Air Summit may take place in Ponte de Sor (Portalegre) and in San Javier, in the Spanish province of Murcia, as an alternative, admitted this Thursday to the Lusa or local authority.
“If it is the biggest aeronautical summit in the Iberian Peninsula, why not extend it to the Iberian Peninsula? This is also on the agenda, why not do it [o evento] in the neighboring country? ”, said the mayor of Ponte de Sor, Hugo Hilário.
According to the mayor, who was speaking to Lusa on the sidelines of the work of the 2nd day of the Portugal Air Summit, taking place at the Municipal Aerodrome of Ponte de Sor, there are at this time “conversations” with the authorities of San Javier to “evaluate if it makes any sense “to develop the event in the neighboring country.
This possible holding of the event on the other side of the border is being considered “for a very specific reason”, according to Hugo Hilário.
“This is a sector arguably with a brutal growth margin. air transport is transport of the future, no one doubts that, and with an exponential growth trend”, he said.
Therefore, for the mayor of Ponte de Sor, it is necessary to give the event an “opportunity to grow” in the future and “widen horizons”.
If this “opportunity to grow doesn’t occur, someone next door will make another event that can minimize this one or that can compete with this one, which is not negative, but, at this moment, we have to reduce to broaden horizons and do it grow more and more”, he stressed.
Hugo Hilário also explained that this idea arose following a conversation with “one of the main promoters” of the Portugal Air Summit, which indicates that San Javier has a military airport.
“Knowing the example of Ponte de Sor, he asked us to collaborate in trying to resume economic activity in the aeronautics sector” in San Javier, he pointed out, stressing that “probably” there will be “a partnership with Murcia soon”.
And, “if Spain wants it, if Murcia wants it, if San Javier wants it”, it will be possible “To make this event even more international, even more Iberian, to be able to compete”, he added.
The Portugal Air Summit, which is in its 5th edition, is promoted by the Municipality of Ponte de Sor and by the company TheRace.
The initiative, which runs until Sunday, brings together about 200 speakers, on behalf of relevant industry, infrastructure and service entities, to debate and analyze, in about 50 services, the aviation – manned and unmanned -, aeronautics, space and defense sectors.
In addition to debates and criteria, the Portugal Air Summit has to offer air shows, a competition for launching small rockets, the EuRoc – European Rocketry Challenge, among other initiatives.