Lisbon, March 12, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's airports managing company, ANA Aeroportos, on Wednesday rejected the accusation by environmental association Zero that the government was favouring it by funding acoustic insulation of buildings through the Environmental Fund, and argued that the application of the polluter pays principle does not constitute a favour.
"The application of the polluter pays principle does not constitute a favour, nor does the implementation of a ‘hard curfew’ [restriction on night flights] at Lisbon's Humberto Delgado airport, the consequences of which on air connectivity have yet to be determined," argued ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, in a written response to Lusa.
In a statement sent on Tuesday, Zero considered it ‘scandalous’ that the government favours ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal by using funds from the Environmental Fund to finance acoustic insulation work, "when this responsibility should fall exclusively to ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal, the concessionaire of Vinci Airports".
At issue is the government's decision to implement a set of measures to reduce the impact of noise generated by Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD) on the general public in the municipalities of Lisbon, Loures, Vila Franca de Xira and Almada, including the creation of the Less Noise Programme, which will allow interventions on the façades, windows and window frames of residential buildings that are sensitive to noise, with an overall investment of €10 million, financed through the Environmental Fund.
The airport manager considered that the environmental association had made statements that "don't correspond to the truth", such as when it said that in other European airports, the costs of noise mitigation are borne entirely by the operator.
"The organisation does not mention that these costs are financed through noise charges levied by these airports on airlines, in application of the European polluter pays principle, also adopted by Portugal," argued ANA.
In addition, the concessionaire emphasised that Zero presents the environmental fund as public funds, but fails to mention that this instrument is largely made up of carbon taxes applied to air transport passengers in Lisbon since 2021.
"This fund has therefore been mostly financed by private aviation sources, without even one euro of the approximately €100 million collected from passengers to date having been used to mitigate the environmental impacts of aircraft," ANA pointed out.
As for the noise action plan 2018-2023, drawn up by the concessionaire and approved by the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA), ANA recalled that this proposal "was subject to the implementation of a financing mechanism that complied with the polluter pays principle, which is only now being realised by government decision".
Finally, ANA rejected being the source of the noise, pointing out that it "does not operate or own aircraft, nor does it own the infrastructure it manages during the term of its concession" and that it "did not define the location of the runways or the rules for urban development around the airports".
The concessionaire also guaranteed that it "scrupulously fulfils all its responsibilities and obligations under the Noise Action Plan" and stressed that it is investing €1.5 million in the implementation of the first phase of the noise mitigation plan, with all the protocols for the 18 particularly sensitive buildings having been signed, with work already underway, and the intervention at ISCTE - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa will begin shortly.
MPE/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
