Car rental businesses have issues with the Faro Airport
Car rental in the Algarve is quite big business because many visitors from abroad choose to explore the region by car, or they simply want the simple advantages of having a car at their disposal during their holiday.
Now, around 40 car rental business find themselves operating from a single cabin set up at ‘Parque 4’ of Faro Airport, still waiting for better work conditions so that they in turn can provide their customers with quality services.
A solution to this problem was expected to be found after a meeting with ANA Aeroportos de Portugal – the company in charge of managing national airports – a meeting that was scheduled to take place towards the end of May.
However, according to Armando Santana – president of the Algarve Rent-a-Car Association, ARA – since that meeting there have been no developments, the association continuing to hold meetings with parliamentary groups in order to raise awareness of their situation. He continued to say that the main objective of ARA is to make sure that car rental customers receive a quality service and that the good image of the Algarve remains intact among those who choose to visit the region.
For a bit of background on the situation, the smaller car hire companies have to operate from a separate structure erected at the airport car park and are not allowed to enter the terminal building in order to conduct their business. ANA has threatened not to renew their licenses for vehicle parking spaces if they do not comply with these terms and conditions.
Mendes Bota – Algarve PSD MP – denounced the situation to the government, accusing the ANA of exerting extreme pressure on the smaller businesses, in a sense creating discriminatory rules imposed by the airport administration.
It does appear that Faro Airport users are quite critical of the situation, with several Algarve-centric websites receiving e-mails from users in regards to this situation.
