The President of the Republic said this Wednesday in a written note that he never contacted TAP or any member of the government to change the return flight from Mozambique in March 2022.
“The President of the Republic has never contacted TAP or any member of the government about this. The President of the Republic has never requested a TAP flight change, if it did, it would have been at the initiative of the travel agency,” the note sent to Lusa said.
The position came after the TAP Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry discussed an email exchange between then-Secretary of State for Infrastructure Hugo Méndez and TAP Executive Committee President Christine Urmier-Widener about a possible postponement of the flight rescheduling with head of state Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as a passenger.
The President of the Republic refers that “the President of the Republic made a trip to Mozambique in March 2022” and that “the trip was organized by a regular travel agency that took several steps and eventually found an alternative with TAAG via Luanda. , on the 23rd, and the return from Mozambique took place on March 21, 2022 on a scheduled TAP flight (TP182).”
In the same note, he adds: “We became aware of this issue on February 11, 2022, when the TAP CEO asked the head of the Civic Chamber at a dinner at the Elysee Palace at the invitation of President Macron regarding Saison Croisée France Portugal, whether His Excellency the President of the Republic requested a flight change TAP on March 24, which was immediately denied.”
Asked about this at the commission of inquiry by Liberal Initiative MP Bernardo Blanco on Tuesday, Christine Urmier-Widener mentioned that she made sure to check whether it was indeed a request from the President of the Republic to change the flight. .
“After all, I was not surprised when I realized that the President of the Republic would never ask us to change the flight, which would affect the rest of the passengers,” the manager said.
In an email exchange, according to what was read by the commission of inquiry, former Secretary of State for Infrastructure Hugo Méndez argued that it was important to keep Marcelo Rebela de Souza as an ally of TAP.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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