After years of dithering while passenger number grew, the Minister of Planning and Infrastructure now admits that a new airport for Lisbon has become an "emergency" for the country.
Pedro Marquês says that the military air base at Montijo is the best location to act as a overflow to take the pressure of Humberto Delgado airport in the capital.
A new Lisbon airport "is no longer urgent, it has become an emergency" said the minister, adding that the country can not wait for any more years to find a solution to strengthen national airport capacity.
The minister, speaking in a parliamentary debate about the proposal for a new Lisbon airport, said the country has to have a solution for airport capacity and that it is obvious that Lisbon's Humberto Delgado airport is reaching the limit of its capacity.
"The country needs a solution that will sustain the coming decades of airport growth and everything indicates that at this moment that the best solution for Portugal is Montijo," said Marquês who wants to sideline the low-cost flight sector into the alternative airport which, inconvenently for many, is south of the Tagus.
The executive president of Aeroportos de Portugal (ANA), Carlos Lacerda, who will be running the airport if it ever gets approved, says Montijo will need another runway but that the immediate priority will be to strengthen and lengthen the existing runway.
Lacerda says that "the Montijo solution has capacity for growth. The idea that we are limited by runway size or any other constraint, simply is not true."
The ANA chief noted that an environmental impact study will be completed "by the end of the year."
In the meantime, Lisbon’s current airport is ever closer to its 23 million passengers a year capacity - this number should be reached in the summer of 2018.
The development cycle for Montijo airport should have started years ago and this poor planning, despite years of reports and assessments, means Montijo can, at best, be operational in 2021.
The inability of successive governments to take a decision on Lisbon's second airport will leave Humberto Delgado airport under severe stress for years.
The welcome growth in tourism and business travel means more passengers but, faced with delays of up to three hours as currently (click here), many will avoid the capital with others avoiding Portugal alltogether.
Comments
... Maybe, but for REAL delay, I nominate the UK's additional runway/new airport fiaso. 40+ years and its STILL going!!!
It makes Portugal look efficient.
Beja , which has already been built and is ready to operate. It appears that this airport , although fully functional has been mothballed.