Portugal has signed today the confirmation of the construction of the Lisbon - Montijo airport and its opening is scheduled for 2022. The company ANA, which manages the Portuguese airports, has signed an agreement for an amount of 1 , 15 billion euros until 2028. The agreement signed this Tuesday on the extension of the airport capacity of Lisbon, divides the opinion and took time to decide. What will the new airport of Lisbon - Montijo look like ? When will he open ? Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you everything about the confirmation of the new Lisbon - Montijo airport with an opening scheduled for 2022.

Opening in 2022 with 15 million passengers expected

The Lisbon airport has already reached its maximum capacity for quite some time, and the service to the travelers is felt. Delayed flights see canceled, staff on strike, it's been a long time that the Portuguese state wants to unclog Lisbon airport but it took a long time to decide. Finally it has reached an agreement with the ANA for an amount of 1.15 billion euros until 2028. This figure includes the extension of the current structure of Humberto Delgado (Lisbon airport) and the transformation of the base of Montijo, which was celebrated at the signing ceremony at a civilian airport and is expected to start operating in 2022.

Seven million passengers are expected for the first year of operation of the new airport, "but it could quickly reach 15 million," said Nicolas Notebaert, president of ANA, during his speech.

The same manager of the company owning ANA said that the investment in the current infrastructure will represent 650 million euros and that 500 million euros would be needed to open the base of Montijo to civil aviation.

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48 flights per hour but neglected environmental aspect

An amount of € 156 million has been allocated to compensate the air forces and contribute to the works of access to the two airport infrastructures, according to ANA, director of the airport. Mr Notebaert stressed that this is a private investment to secure commitments and public interests and noted that Lisbon's competitiveness as a hub and respect for environmental issues will be preserved.

For the Humberto Delgado airport, this solution will make 48 movements per hour and 24 movements per hour in Montijo.

Prime Minister António Costa and several members of the government, Vinci President Xavier Huillard, and Vinci Airports President Nicolas Notebaert were present at the signing ceremony of the agreement.

The signing took place while the ANA had not yet provided an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

The binding agreement between ANA and the State was planned for October, in accordance with the memorandum of understanding which also indicated the end of 2018 for the airport manager to provide the additional elements requested by the Portuguese Environmental Agency. (APA) for the environmental impact project.

As part of a plan to increase Lisbon's airport capacity, the Greens Green Party (ENP) scheduled a plenary debate on Thursday to discuss the government's decision to build an airport complementary to the Lisbon airport in Montijo. , without an environmental impact study.

The PSD had already made known that it would call the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) before Parliament to provide clarification.

Last week, leftist coordinator Catarina Martins expressed her "perplexity" that the signing of the agreement for the new Montijo airport was scheduled without an environmental impact study. The PCP, Jerónimo de Sousa, accused the government of wanting to "anchor an airport" to "Montijo" to "benefit a large economic group", saying that "in this haste" and "it has been put aside the environmental problems ".

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