Nearly a month after new airport charges for rent-a-car companies came into effect, the controversy surrounding them is as strong as ever. Communist party PCP has even accused airport management company ANA of “crushing small rent-a-car companies with its monopolistic ways”.
While political parties begin to take firmer stances against the fees, Armando Santana, president of the Association of Rent-a-Car Companies in the Algarve (ARA), has warned of the “negative effect” he believes they will start to have on the region’s tourism sector.
“This isn’t just a fight of the rent-a-car companies anymore – it is of the whole tourism sector,” Santana told the Resident.
On March 1, tourists renting cars from “non-associated rent-a-car companies” lacking their own premises at Faro Airport had to start paying a €9 fee. The initial fee was supposed to be €17, but the sum was reduced after lengthy negotiations.
“The problem is that ANA has implemented the charges, but the conditions for the car transactions have not improved,” Santana stressed.
“Tourists arrive from their flight and then have to sign their car rental papers in under 60 minutes in an airport parking lot lacking appropriate conditions, such as shading,” he told us.
Just this week a letter from a Resident reader has confirmed that many of the transactions are rushed so that no extra fees have to be paid for remaining in the parking lot over the 60-minute limit. “The new arrangements will have a serious negative impact on visitor impressions of the Algarve,” said David Bird. “We were greeted by a virtually deserted car park as the rental companies attempt to keep their vehicles ‘off-site’ until the last minute until required by customers.”
Last summer, Santana said, there were even a number of people who passed out from prolonged exposure to the sun and had to be assisted by INEM emergency services.
Armando Santana said that the main action against the charges is still in court, but the rent-a-car boss admits that companies are willing to meet with the airport authority and reach an agreement.
“We are not totally against the charges, however, conditions need to be improved in order to justify them,” he stated.
Earlier this month, Algarve MP Cristóvão Norte (PSD) had already made a similar point.
“If there wasn’t any investment, if the conditions aren’t significantly better (for tourists and rent-a-car companies), why is ANA going to earn €6 million from the charges?” he asked.
Norte, alongside PSD’s other Algarve MPs, have already asked the competition authority (AC) to evaluate whether or not the charges violate competition laws and if they are proportionate to the services provided.
By MICHAEL BRUXO
news@algarveresident.com
