New Lisbon airport. "An important moment of democratic maturity"

This discussion has been going on for 50 years and this Tuesday 5 December sets "an important and relevant moment of democratic maturity" for a subject that is "more debated than some national championships". These are words proffered by the Prime Minister who made a point of attending the presentation of the Independent Technical Committee’s preliminary report. This committee is charged with assessing several scenarios to locate the future Lisbon airport.

Acknowledging that the "country is weary of 50 years of discussion on this matter", the leader of the Cabinet stressed the importance of two areas of consensus formed around the issue of the new Lisbon airport. The first is the "urgency of responding" to the lack of capacity at Humberto Delgado airport. The second is realising that there will be no unanimous decision on the location of a new airport infrastructure: "It will be difficult for any of the solutions to garner more than 20% of supporters, which means it will have 80 % of opposers".

Which makes the method chosen for an assessment to sustain a future political decision particularly relevant. "It would be important to define a method that brings this comfort to all", António Costa underlined, leaving a word of appreciation to the leader of the Social Democrats (PSD) for the way in which setting up this Technical Committee was agreed on. A committee that has experts from several areas, picked in a completely independent manner, stressed the Prime Minister, adding that it is now up to the decision-maker, the Government that comes out of the next elections on 10 March to weight the various critical factors under analysis, as well as other non-technical factors.  

The Independent Technical Committee analysed eight options under five critical factors: aeronautical security, accessibility and land, public health and environmental viability, connectivity and economic development, and public investment and financing model. And it concluded that the "solution with the greatest advantage" includes keeping the airport in Portela at the same time as Alcochete, until the conditions are met for Alcochete to operate as a single airport with a minimum of "two runways".

Another solution deemed "viable" is keeping the airport in Portela and building a new one in Vendas Novas, until the latter has the infrastructure in place to become a single airport. 

With the preliminary report known, it will be open to public consultation on Wednesday 6 December until 19 January, after which the final report will be drafted.

Immediate works at Humberto Delgado Airport

During the closing speech at the session to present the Independent Technical Committee’s report at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory in Lisbon, the Prime Minister announced that the upcoming Council of Ministers – on Thursday in Porto – will approve a resolution imposing on ANA (Aeroportos de Portugal) to move forward at once with the works still needing undertaking at Humberto Delgado airport, namely remodelling and expanding Terminal 1. 

"The resolution to be approved in the Council of Ministers will impose on ANA the immediate undertaking of the missing works, according to the assessment by the regulator on joint development obligations" claimed António Costa, adding that this resolution will also determine that "the works to expand Terminal 1 will move forward, among other obligations that will be outlined".

"As for NAV, we are fostering the determination to adjust the air navigation system, namely the flight sequencing system to optimise the airport’s capacity", he noted.

The preliminary report presented by the Independent Technical Committee can be viewed HERE