“This may seem like a really crazy idea, but it’s not. Tenerife [Canaries] did it,” he said.

Defending that this possibility should be considered “for the future”, Miguel Albuquerque rejected that it is an “unreasonable hypothesis”

“It is not an irrational hypothesis. It is a hypothesis that must be considered, given the evolution of our society”, he highlighted.

The leader of the minority social-democratic executive was speaking at Madeira International Airport, where the public presentation of the new wind detection system, called MAD Winds, was held, an investment by NAV - Navegação Aérea de Portugal, budgeted at 3.5 million euros.

“I always think outside the box – I’ve never gotten into trouble because of it – and I think we have to start considering, for the future – it’s not for me –, planning a second airport in Madeira over time”, he insisted.

The government official pointed to the western area of ​​the island as ideal for the construction of a new airport unit, to maintain all air operations in the region without cancellations and face the “exponential growth of operations”.

Miguel Albuquerque considered, on the other hand, that, due to the increase in the number of “high-income foreign residents”, the creation of a “unit for private jets” should also be considered.

The autonomous region currently has two airports, one on the island of Madeira, and the other on the island of Porto Santo.

Operations at Madeira International Airport, located in the municipality of Santa Cruz, in the east of the island, are often affected by wind conditions, and the new system presented allows for more effective knowledge of the situation in a “very short term”.

MADeira Winds (MAD Winds) is composed of an X-Band Radar, a LIDAR system and a processing system that analyzes meteorological data with high precision, offering essential support for operational decisions during the most critical phases of the flight, namely approach, landing and take-off.

MAD Winds is now beginning a pre-operation period of one year, during which it will be evaluated and subjected to adjustments to optimize the operation in relation to the characteristics of Madeira Airport, the only one in the world whose wind limits are mandatory – 15 knots –, although they were imposed in 1964 and defined based on studies that used a DC3 plane from World War II, when the runway was 1,600 meters, whereas it is currently 2,781.

According to NAV Portugal, around 80% of flight divergences currently driven by wind are only up to three knots above imposed limits, so the new system is a “crucial tool” for a more accurate and potentially more favourable assessment.