The Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD) Expansion Plan, up to a maximum of 45 movements per hour, was submitted to the Government by ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal on August 5 and will now be reviewed by the regulatory authority and competent entities in the aviation sector.

In a statement, the Civic Platform "Airport Out, Lisbon Gets Better" reminded Prime Minister Luís Montenegro that he had committed "to then-Prime Minister António Costa to a government solution that would allow the relocation of Portela Airport" while in opposition in the summer of 2022.

However, on August 5th, "the day it received the Humberto Delgado Airport Expansion Plan (AHD) from the concessionaire, the Government gave in to ANA/Vinci's demands to expand Humberto Delgado Airport, a notoriously expensive and wasteful €300 million investment, thus relegating the construction of the new airport solution to the back burner," the civic platform highlighted.

The report presented by ANA will be analysed by the government, which, taking into account the "complexity and technical specificity of the matter," asked the relevant authorities in the sector to review the plan, the Ministry of Infrastructure said in a statement.

Once validated by the competent authorities and approved by the Government, ANA will prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment, which will then be submitted to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).

"We urge the APA to reject a project that will only perpetuate a structure whose transfer was already advocated for more than five decades ago by the then-municipal Urban Hygiene official, denouncing Portela as an attack on public health," the citizens' group added.

In the statement, the platform argued that "it is urgent to have an airport strategy focused on the country's interests," rather than a "flagrant violation of the public interest, favouring private interests and the tourist lobby."

"It is urgent to build Luís de Camões Airport. Not in ten years. Today. Because in truth, it should have been built yesterday," the citizens argued.

The group also wants residents to be heard and involved "in the decision regarding the fate of the Portela lands, which should be returned to everyone (...) and for ecological and leisure enjoyment."

The Humberto Delgado Airport Expansion Plan in Lisbon is the result of the government's decision to increase Portela's capacity until Luís de Camões Airport, at the Alcochete Shooting Range, becomes operational, "which is expected to happen in about ten years."

With over 500 hectares, Humberto Delgado Airport has served Lisbon since 1942 and the plan is to decommission it once the new infrastructure on the south bank of the Tagus River is completed.