Lisbon, July 3, 2025 (Lusa) - Several dozen people protested outside Lisbon airport on Wednesday, calling for a new approach to this structure in the capital, an initiative that took place on the day that Livre presented a draft resolution on the issue to parliament.

“Parliament received a draft resolution today recommending that the government prohibit night flights, cancel the expansion of Humberto Delgado Airport, accelerate construction of the new airport, and invest in rail as an alternative to Iberian flights,” Jorge Pinto, a member of Livre who joined the demonstration organised by the “Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora” (No airport, a better Lisbon) platform, told Lusa.

The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc (BE) also supported the initiative, with João Ferreira, a Lisbon city councillor, representing the PCP and Carolina Serrão representing the BE.

“The main point of [Livre’s proposal] is to relocate Lisbon airport from the city centre,” summarised the Livre MP.

According to the MP, the Portuguese capital should relocate the structure because its current location is “unsustainable” and “affects people’s health” as well as air quality.

The European Commission has “a lot” of studies on this, he recalled, adding that other European capitals already have their airports outside the city limits.

The platform ‘Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora’ (Airport out, Lisbon improves) called for a gathering of citizens today to protest against the “inaction of the authorities” in the face of the noise and pollution caused by Lisbon airport, and, with a modest turnout, the protesters levelled several criticisms at the government and Lisbon City Council for failing to defend the interests of the people.

The protest took place at the end of the day outside Lisbon airport metro station, and protesters called for quiet nights, new parks, and the urgent construction of a new Lisbon airport outside the capital.

Speaking to the Lusa news agency on Wednesday, Sérgio Morais, from the platform, stated that the initiative aimed to highlight the concerns of people who live, work, or study in areas affected by noise and pollution generated by aircraft.

“We are monitoring the situation with concern as it continues. The competent authorities have not yet acknowledged us. It is summer. Flights have increased, and we are working to address the disturbance. We are committed to finding a way forward to resolve this. We look forward to updates on the construction of the new airport,” he said.

Sérgio Morais said that the noise caused by aircraft affects residents of the neighbourhoods of Areeiro, Alvalade, Campolide, Campo de Ourique, Camarate, Lumiar and São João da Talha, who “experience restful sleep, enjoy uninterrupted lessons, attend medical appointments without delays, notice fuel odours and maintain healthy blood pressure levels unrelated to the noise”.

According to him, the problem has worsened “considerably in recent years”, despite last year’s announcement by the government that it would ban flights from Lisbon airport between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., following the conclusions of the working group on night flights.

“We have noticed that the number of flights has been increasing, not least because we are in the summer season. We therefore decided to organise this gathering to alert the population to the problems,” he said.

Sérgio Morais also said that the platform will request a meeting with the government to discuss the problems affecting those areas.

In November 2024, the infrastructure minister, Miguel Pinto Luz (who remains in office in the current legislature), announced that Lisbon will prohibit flights between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., as recommended by a working group that analysed the issue and delivered its final report in July 2022.

In March this year, even before the legislative elections, the cabinet instructed the National Civil Aviation Authority, the aviation sector regulator, to implement restrictions on night-time operations.

The PSD/CDS executive indicated that the restrictions concerned the operation of noisier aircraft between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., in addition to the imposition of a period without slots (‘hard curfew’) between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., as well as the implementation of new aeronautical procedures to reduce noise.

ATR/ADB // ADB.

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