Flights between Lisbon and São Tomé on Saturday were postponed by technical problem

Dand according to the information consulted by Lusa on the website of STP Airways, it was expected that the flight, operated by the company EuroAtlantic, would leave Lisbon at 00:05 and reach the archipelago by 05:15. The return flight was scheduled to depart at 7:10 on the same day, arriving at 2:30.

“The delay that affected flight 8F507 was caused by a technical problem that required the provision of additional equipment in São Tomé. Unfortunately, the necessary equipment was not available on the island, which made the flight impossible as originally planned,” explained the airlines in a written reply to Lusa.

Specifically, “the problem resolution required specific materials and support from third-party service providers, subject to their availability and delivery deadlines. Consequently, more time was needed to complete the necessary actions before the operation could be resumed.”.

The flights were operated this Wednesday and the companies declared not to predict “that there will be more problems related to this situation”.

“ We would also like to clarify that all the operational and ground assistance processes took place normally,” they said.

However, according to the report given to Lusa by telephone by a Portuguese passenger who was detained in São Tomé, Rita Pires, the airlines did not contact the passengers directly and they learned about the delay by receiving the hotel itself.

“ We did not get to the airport because the hotel where we were staying received information from the airline (...). Therefore, this information was not given to us directly, it went to the hotel – and I imagine that the STP [Airways] did this in other hotels – but from then on the information began to be scarcer, there was no prediction of when the plane would pick us up, nor that it would have been, or that it was, a technical failure”, he said.

Also Radio Somos Todos Primos (RSTP), from São Tomé and Príncipe, reported that, although passengers have stayed in hotels in Lisbon since Saturday, the situation has generated some protests among travelers, who reported problems related to accommodation.

The airlines finally asked for “sorry for the disturbance and inconvenience caused to passengers”.

Lusa asked for concrete information on how many passengers were injured, but the airlines refused to provide further information.

According to Rita Pires, who landed in Lisbon today around 09:00, there were about 15 Portuguese detained on the island until the recovery of flights from STP Airways, but, according to the same source, at least seven Portuguese returned earlier, on a flight operated by TAP at no additional cost.

“ I know there was at least one couple and another group of five – I don’t know if it was the STP [Airways] that did it or not – that were put on TAP flight and they came earlier, but other people didn’t. I did not realize what the criterion was ", stressed, referring that these people did not pay for the flight of the Portuguese airline.