Lisbon, Sept. 3, 2024 (Lusa) - The mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas (PSD), has called for a "balance" in the activity of Humberto Delgado Airport, in order to reconcile the interests of residents with the city's economy and tourism.
The Lisbon mayor's position was expressed to journalists on Monday evening, on the eve of the city council's extraordinary public meeting to discuss the consequences of increasing Humberto Delgado Airport's capacity.
‘It will be years before we have a new airport in Alcochete (on the south bank of the river Tagus) and there will have to be work on this airport [Humberto Delgado]. We have an airport bursting at the seams. As mayor, I want to limit the number of flights. I don't want noise. On the other hand, our economy and tourism are important for Lisbon. That's the balance we're going to have to make,’ he emphasised.
The discussion on increasing the capacity of Humberto Delgado Airport will take place on Tuesday, at 3pm, in the Archive Room of Lisbon's city hall (Paços do Concelho) and is the result of a request from the Socialist Party (PS), with several guest organisations expected to attend the public meeting, including the Portuguese Environment Agency.
The PS councillors, who are organising the meeting, pointed out that ‘around 100,000 people live in the parishes next to the airport, which are already subject to negative impacts in terms of noise, pollution and road congestion’.
‘Even before any increase in airport capacity, Lisbon is already the second European capital with the most inhabitants exposed to aeronautical noise,’ the socialists emphasised.
At the PS's proposal, the council invited the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), the National Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development (CNADS), Zero - Sustainable Earth System Association, GEOTA - Group for Spatial Planning and Environmental Studies, the League for the Protection of Nature (LPN) and the Living in Lisbon movement to take part in the discussion.
The other political forces represented on the council - PSD/CDS, PCP, Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), Livre and BE - can nominate other organisations, with the Blocists inviting the civic platform ‘Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora’, (Airport out, Lisbon gets better), which has been demanding an end to night flights and compliance with the General Noise Law since 2022.
In May, the PSD/CDS-PP leadership presented a motion for the municipality to be compensated for the increase in the airport's temporary capacity and to demand that the concessionaire ‘immediately minimise the impacts of the operation’ of the infrastructure, but the proposal was rejected with all the opposition voting against.
At that time, in addition to the PS motion, the city council approved (with the PSD/CDS voting against) the PCP motion "For the immediate construction of Lisbon's new airport. For the closure of Humberto Delgado Airport’, arguing that the decision to build the new airport on the land of the current Alcochete Shooting Range “should be realised as soon as possible” and that “any increase in traffic at Humberto Delgado Airport, as well as the expansion works that make it possible, should be rejected outright”.
The Communists defended the ‘immediate abolition of night flights’, as previously demanded by the city council, which was approved with the PS voting against and the other parties voting in favour.
Part of the BE's motion ‘For no increase in movements per hour and for the phased closure of Humberto Delgado Airport’ was also made viable, with the PSD/CDS-PP voting against, to urge the government ‘not to increase the number of movements per hour’ at the current infrastructure.
FAC/AYLS // AYLS
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