New Lisbon Airport

Not to be confused with Montijo Air Base.

Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa, NAL

Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa – Montijo[1]
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorANA Aeroportos de Portugal
ServesLisbon
LocationDisputed, presumably Montijo
Elevation AMSL211–213 ft / 50–55 m
Coordinates38°46′N 8°48′W / 38.767°N 8.800°W / 38.767; -8.800
Runways
Direction Length Surface
ft m
01/19 7,044 2,147

New Lisbon Airport (Portuguese: Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa, NAL) is the currently planned site for construction of a new Lisbon airport to serve the center and south of Portugal, scheduled to complement the current Humberto Delgado Airport as Lisbon's main airport[2]

History

After years of debate and public consultation whether Rio Frio or Ota would be the place to build a new Lisbon airport, a new location was proposed in Alcochete and won as it was more accessible given the good infrastructure nearby, such as the Vasco da Gama Bridge. The location of Alcochete as the construction site of the future Lisbon Airport was confirmed by the Portuguese Government on 8 May 2008.[3] The estimated cost for the project is €3 billion (approximately US$4.5 billion). Construction started in late 2010 but, in May 2010, forced by the financial crisis, Prime Minister José Sócrates put the project on hold.[4]

The green field facility envisaged in the 2000s was to have four runways, and was expected to service over 50 million passengers annually.[5]

After the termination of the new airport project, a plan was later put forward to keep the existing airport in service, but also convert the preexisting Naval Air Base in Montijo into a facility for low cost carriers.[6]

In November 2018, at an IATA congress in Madrid, Pedro Marques, Minister of Planning and Infrastructure, stated that Montijo airport would start operating by 2022.[7] French construction group Vinci, which owns ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, said in 2019 it would invest 1.15 billion euros ($1.39 billion) in the expansion of Lisbon's main airport and the construction of the new one.[8] On 31 October 2019, the IATA declared that operations for low cost airlines would begin in 2021. In 2019 the conversion of Montijo Airforce Base into a civilian airport for low-cost airlines was targeted to be completed around December 2022,[9] but this did not occur.

In March 2021, Portugal's aviation regulator ANAC rejected the evaluation request submitted by ANA, citing disagreements with the municipalities in and around the new airport as well as environmental concerns.[10]

In June 2022 the Portuguese Government decided to expedite the construction of the New Lisbon (Montijo) Airport with plans to put the airport into operation in 2026. One month later "Portugal's Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing to revoke an order to construct New Lisbon (Montijo) Airport by 2026".[9]

As of January 2024, the project had not commenced.

References

  1. ^ Presumed
  2. ^ "Governo avança para o aeroporto no Montijo mas quer também nova infraestrutura em Alcochete".
  3. ^ Official website of the Government of Portugal about the project NAL. Retrieved 8 October 2011. (in Portuguese)
  4. ^ "Sócrates adia investimentos públicos no aeroporto de Lisboa e terceira travessia do Tejo" Archived 22 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Público, 8 May 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010. (in Portuguese)
  5. ^ "Airports of the future: 19 weird and wonderful terminals under construction". The Telegraph. 4 February 2016. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  6. ^ "New Lisbon Airport (2018)".
  7. ^ News, E. C. O. (13 November 2018). "Government aims for new airport to start operating in 2022". ECO News. Retrieved 27 December 2018. {cite web}: |last= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ Catarina Demony (2 March 2021), Plan for new Lisbon airport blocked, government pushes for solution Reuters.
  9. ^ a b "New Lisbon (Montijo) Airport New Airport Profile | CAPA".
  10. ^ Catarina Demony (2 March 2021), Plan for new Lisbon airport blocked, government pushes for solution Reuters.