LOW COST FLIGHTS TO AND FROM MADEIRA ISLAND
Both residents and visitors to Madeira Island are to benefit with Easyjet’s very first low cost direct flight from Madeira to Lisbon in the mainland continent yesterday. The budget airline commenced low cost flights from Madeira Island to London exactly a year to date – on the 29th October 2007. Since then over 80 000 passengers have travelled to and from Madeira. Easyjet reports a growth rate of 47% even under the current world economic climate where a marked depreciation of the Pound against the US Dollar is reflected. Stansted, Bristol and Gatwick are reporting increasing growth in traffic to Madeira Island too. According to national statistics, Madeira Island has been one of the few destinations in Portugal this year reporting positive growth in the tourism industry. Easyjet has based this research on INE in that of the 810 000 nationals holidaying in Portugal, 9% of them travel to Madeira. The no frills airline predicts a further 15-20% growth on this route until the year end. One-way ticket rates at Easyjet commence at only €25.99 inclusive of taxes. Madeiran residents travelling to Lisbon are further entitled to a government subsidy/re-imbursement per flight. More low cost airlines are expected to connect Funchal to other European cities in the very near future one of which is Transavia Airline, predicted to fly directly from Funchal to Porto and vice-versa. In the uncertain present economic climate, investing in bricks and mortar is still probably one of the safest.
If you are considering investing in freehold real estate in Madeira, now is the time to take advantage of the buyer’s market. Tony has a number of private and urgent sellers – view some of these listings here.