“There are not enough planes for the demand [that exists] at the moment. This is the big problem,” said Vítor Silva, speaking to Lusa news agency.

According to the official, external tourist demand, which reached “about a third of the total in 2019”, before the “complete closure of external markets” due to the covid-19 pandemic, has not yet fully recovered.

In the Alentejo, the decline of “some markets” is also noted, especially the Brazilian one, “very important both nationally and regionally”, with the region closing 2022 “with a drop of about a quarter” in the number of Brazilian tourists.

According to the official, the planes “are all full, regardless of the airline”, and with “very high prices”, which means that “the price did not affect demand”.

“The problem is that there are, in fact, at the moment, no planes to fly in relation to the existing demand. The forecasts for the lack of seats for the year 2023 are greater than one million seats on planes” coming from Brazil, argued Vítor Silva.

“Anyone traveling from Brazil to Portugal right now will see that the plane is completely full. Before, there were always some [free] places, not now. The planes arrives completely full,” he insisted.