Lisbon, Nov. 7, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister of infrastructure announced on Thursday that flights from Lisbon airport between 01:00 and 05:00 will be banned, following the working group's conclusions on night flights.
"The working group on night flights [in Lisbon] has finished and I can announce here that we are going to implement a "hard curfew" that will prevent flights between 01:00 and 05:00 in the morning," the minister, Miguel Pinto Luz, said in Parliament as part of the specialised assessment of the 2025 budget.
The minister, who was responding to Livre MP Isabel Mendes Dias, said that this was "a giant step forward" compared to what is currently happening.
Miguel Pinto Luz recalled the criticism from municipalities, mayors and citizens regarding the noise caused by aeroplanes, as well as pollution, and reiterated the government's objective.
On Wednesday, around three dozen residents of neighbourhoods in Lisbon and Loures affected by the noise and pollution caused by Lisbon airport demonstrated at the end of the day near the airport, demanding, among other things, the right to rest.
The protest, organised by the "Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora" platform, brought together citizens from the Areeiro, Alvalade, Campolide, Campo de Ourique, Camarate, Lumiar, and São João da Talha neighbourhoods. With placards and slogans, they shouted against the authorities' inaction.
Near the exit of the Airport metro station, citizens demanded an end to night flights, the non-expansion and closure of the airport, and the urgent construction of a new Lisbon airport outside the city and a new green lung in the city.
In September, the Lisbon City Council government unanimously approved a motion advocating reducing the number of movements per hour at Humberto Delgado Airport and refusing any increase in airport capacity.
According to a 2004 decree, there is a maximum of 91 air movements per week and 26 per day between 00:00 and 06:00.
That decree also states that the authorisation of air movements during the night is conditional on the noise levels of the aircraft used.
The environmental association Zero has repeatedly denounced the failure to respect these limits.
MPE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
