The pressure continues at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado airport, with passenger numbers up 9.1% in April compared to the same month last year, more than doubled the average for European airports similar size which showed an average growth of 4.1%.
Compared to April two years ago, the growth at Lisbon airport was 42.2%, according to the International Airports Council of Europe, which represents about 500 airports in 45 European countries.
According to the Council, only in Turkey’s Istanbul and Antalya airports, and in Moscow, was there higher April year-on-year growth.
As for Porto airport, passenger traffic rose by 10.8% in April but in the Algarve’s Faro airport, there was a decrease of 2.8%, compared to the same month in 2017.
The government's plans for a second airport to serve Lisbon, remain mired in bureaucracy with "at earliest, 2022," remaining the official start date for the favourite candidate, the Montijo Air Force base.
A statement last July by Manuel Teixeira Rolo, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, said that the relocation of the military from Montijo, is expected to happen "in 2023 or 2024."