Lisbon, July 2, 2025 (Lusa) - Portugal's minister for infrastructure and housing reiterated on Wednesday that the authorities have taken the decision to ban night flights at Lisbon airport, but acknowledged that “it will take time to implement”.
Questioned by Lusa, on the sidelines of the International Forum on Urbanism (IFoU25), which is taking place in Lisbon, Miguel Pinto Luz stressed that ‘the government and ANAC [National Civil Aviation Authority] have taken their political decision and will implement it’.
At issue is the protest called for today by the platform “Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora” (Airport out, Lisbon improves), which urges the authorities to take action in the face of noise and pollution caused by Lisbon airport.
In November 2024, following a report by a working group on the subject, delivered in July 2022, the government announced a ban on night flights between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. at Lisbon airport, and authorities are still working to implement this decision.
In March this year, even before the legislative elections, the cabinet ordered the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), the aviation sector regulator, to implement restrictions on night-time operations.
The PSD/CDS-PP government indicated that the restrictions concerned the operation of noisier aircraft between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., as well as the imposition of a period without flight slots between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., as well as the implementation of new aeronautical procedures to reduce noise.
“The decision has been taken, so we are implementing it, and it requires some time to complete its implementation,” the minister said today as he left the Portugal Pavilion after participating in the opening session of IFoU25, an international forum on urban planning hosted this year by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Lisbon, which runs until 4 July.
Specifically, implementation “requires regulation, requires a conversation with air traffic control,” said the minister, stressing that “ANAC is taking all the necessary steps, in conjunction with NAV [the entity that provides air traffic services], to make this happen.”
Until then, and because “there is still some time to go”, he acknowledged, “it is essential to continue building the new airport to enable the complete dismantling of Lisbon airport, because Lisbon’s citizens will benefit from moving the airport out of the city centre, eliminating the environmental and social impacts on those living in the airport’s service corridor and surrounding area”.
During this period, the government is “carrying out works” and “equipping the airport with everything it needs to improve,” he added, noting that officials will soon inaugurate the refurbished Terminal 2.
“We have taken the decisions we had to take,” Pinto Luz repeated.
The protest action by the “Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora” (Airport out, Lisbon improves) platform—scheduled for 7 p.m. outside the airport metro station—will advocate for night flights to end, the airport to close, and “a new green lung in the city” to be created on the site, as well as the urgent construction of a new airport outside the city.
SBR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
