Lisbon, July 17, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's airports managing company, ANA, is on Thursday delivering to the Government the Report on Consultations with stakeholders in Lisbon's future Luís de Camões airport, which provides for a downward revision of the infrastructure cost from the €8.5 billion initially estimated.
As the airport management company's CEO, Thierry Ligonnière, told Eco, the report is the result of consultations with 45 entities, including the main airlines operating at Lisbon airport, ground handling companies, several city councils, the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), NAV Portugal - Navegação Aérea, among others, and is being delivered, as planned, six months after the Government informed ANA that it wants the concessionaire to proceed with the application for the new airport.
According to the official, the concessionaire will propose a change to the minimum specifications set out in the concession contract, providing for a reduction in the cost of the infrastructure that will allow for a smaller increase in airport charges.
The initial report submitted by ANA to the Government on 17 December estimated a cost of €8.5 billion, of which €7 billion would be financed through debt issuance, and opening in mid-2037, or, with optimisations to the schedule to be negotiated with the Government, at the end of 2036.
In that document, the concessionaire proposed extending the current concession by another 30 years and gradually increasing the current airport charges until 2030 to finance the new Lisbon airport.
The current contract, signed in 2012, provides for a 50-year concession. If this proposal goes ahead, the term would be extended until 2092.
The initial report was made public after the Government informed ANA on 17 January that it wanted the concessionaire to proceed with the application for the new airport. Following this indication, ANA has a further 36 months to submit the complete application, according to the concession contract.
The application process requires the submission of several documents, such as the Consultation Report, the Report on the Selected Site, an Environmental Impact Study, the Technical Report and the Financial Report.
In its initial report, ANA also imposed as a precondition for the start of construction of the new airport the validation by the European Commission that any compensation it may receive does not constitute state aid.
The Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, said in February in parliament that the Government did not believe in the deadlines, the figure and the increase in fees proposed by ANA and proposed a memorandum of understanding between the two parties to negotiate these issues.
The government also questioned the validity of the proposal to increase airport fees from 2026 to finance the construction of the new airport.
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