Lisbon, Aug. 27, 2024 (Lusa) - The Portuguese environmental association, Zero, on Tuesday called for a ban on night flights at Lisbon airport between 12.30am and 5am from the summer of 2025, warning of the noise pollution caused by aircraft.
In a statement, Zero said that in the last two weeks, 115 flights were recorded at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado Airport above the permitted number.
According to a 2004 decree, there is a maximum of 91 air movements per week and 26 per day between midnight and 6am.
That decree also states that the authorisation of air movements at night is subject to the noise levels of the aircraft used.
‘In the last two weeks, based on public information provided by the country's airports managing company, ANA Aeroportos, Zero counted 139 air movements (48 more than permitted) in the week between 12 and 18 August and 158 air movements (67 more) in the week between 19 and 25 August, in breach of the limits established in the legislation that made way for exceptions in 2004,’ stresses Zero.
The environmental association also points out that, on the 20th of this month, 33 air movements were recorded between midnight and 6am, "transgressing the daily maximum allowed by the exception to the general law".
‘The last known figure for the overall value of the fines imposed in these cases is only €52,400 in 2022, which is negligible compared to the €206 million in public health costs that were calculated in 2019 by the parliamentary working group within the scope of the Study and Evaluation of Night Traffic at Humberto Delgado Airport,' says Zero.
Faced with this situation, the association advocates a series of measures, namely the introduction of a period without scheduled flights between 12.30am and 5am, "with flexibility for delayed movements to take place until half past midnight".
‘In view of the seriousness of the situation, Zero wants the authorities to apply the conclusions of the working group that analysed night flights at Lisbon Airport, ensuring that, as a first step, in the summer of 2025 landing and take-off operations at Humberto Delgado Airport are completely banned in the period between half past midnight and five in the morning,’ the note stresses.
Zero also calls for ‘the airports manager to publish monthly the number of people affected by night-time noise levels above 45 decibels and for a strategy to be defined for compliance with the noise law.
The association also wants ‘the application of a noise tax to flights, according to their noise emissions’, as well as a review of the fines for violating the legislation’.
‘According to Zero's counter, which can be found on the zero.ong website, the costs of not closing Humberto Delgado Airport are already close to €10 billion since 2015, the year in which the infrastructure should have been closed,’ says the association.
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