Francisco Calheiros questioned “what has been done in recent months” since the announcement of Alcochete’s decision and the reason for the delay in the development of this project.
The Portuguese Tourism Confederation (CTP) reiterates the urgency of an alternative to Lisbon airport and questions how the process has evolved since Alcochete’s election, asking for a timetable for future infrastructure.
According to the State Budget proposal for 2025, the The Government will advance next year with the execution of “basic studies” to support technical solutions in the implementation of the new Lisbon airportscheduled for Alcochete, according to a decision adopted on May 15.
Given this fact, Francisco Calheiros questioned, in statements to Lusa on the sidelines of the 49th APAVT Congress, held in Huelva (Spain), “what has been done in recent months” since the announcement of Alcochete’s decision and therefore what the delay in the development of this project.
Still, and for this reason, “There must be an urgent alternative” to Lisbon airporthe reinforced, reiterating that in the capital of Portugal ‘slots’ (landing and take-off authorizations at airports) continue to be denied and that he does not believe that the future airport will be built in six or seven years.
“What worries me is the example of Berlin, it is the 16 years it took the Germans to build an airport in a non-existent structure,” he said.
On Thursday, at the opening of the congress of the Portuguese Association of Travel and Tourism Agencies (APAVT), Francisco Calheiros had already addressed the relevance he saw in the publication of a program for Alcochete.
“The decision has been made. I have already asked to know the airport schedule. If it exists, let it be public, if it does not exist, let it be done (…). The last non-existent structure to be built, a major airport in Europe, was Berlin. They were built 16 years ago and we are talking about a country in which they stand out for their competence and efficiency,” he stated.
This Friday, in Lusa, the person in charge affirms that, despite “the schedule [que gere a cronologia de tarefas, por exemplo] If it is a detail, it would be good for the Government to make it known, so that it can continue monitoring the development of future work.
“It is urgent to have an alternative. We have to force the situation so that in two or three years we can have Montijo,” he insisted.
In the report that accompanies the OE2025 proposal, the Government states that “At the airport level, the solution for the New Lisbon Airport, in the location defined by the Government, will see the execution of basic studies that will support the technical solutions. that are found in the execution of this structuring work of the reality of mobility and national competitiveness.”
Furthermore, the document says: “Within the field of airport infrastructure, the main objectives of continuing the development process of the New Lisbon Airport and ensuring an increase in the capacity of the airport system in the Lisbon region stand out.particularly at the Humberto Delgado Airport, until the new infrastructure comes into operation.
So for him At Humberto Delgado Airport, “it is a priority to ensure the necessary investments to reach an annual traffic volume of 40-45 million passengers.”s, which implies, in addition to investments in airport subsystems (runways, ‘taxiways’, parking signs, terminals and accessibility), an increase in the number of movements per hour, with the possibility of adding another two for air traffic towards /from the Cascais municipal aerodrome,” according to the document.
On September 27, the president of the Board of Directors of ANA guaranteed that the airport manager will scrupulously comply with the deadlines to request the construction of the Luís de Camões Airport, in Campo de Tiro de Alcochete.
The guarantee was given by José Luís Arnaut, who was participating in a debate on the challenges of aviation and railways, within the framework of the 7th Portuguese Tourism Summit, in Mafra, with the president of TAP, Luís Rodrigues, and the president of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Integrated Transport Systems, Fernando Nunes da Silva.
“[Vamos] comply scrupulously and on time, […] The interest is also ours, within the legal and possible term we will comply”responded the president of ANA — Aeroportos de Portugal, when asked if the airport manager will comply with the steps defined by the Government to submit the application for the construction of the new airport.
In May, when Luís Montenegro’s executive announced the decision to build the new infrastructure at the Alcochete Shooting Range, it was also defined that the Government would request to prepare a request to ANA within a period of 30 days and, afterward, the manager would have six months to prepare an initial report, which should be delivered in mid-November.
Source: Observadora
