Portugal to build new international airport in Alcochete

Portugal will construct a new international airport in the municipality of Alcochete, across the River Tagus from Lisbon, Prime Minister Luis Montenegro announced on May 14, after decades of debate over the location, REUTERS news agency reported.

The new airport will be situated at the site of a military airfield in Alcochete, about 40 km (25 miles) east of Lisbon, and is expected to be ready by 2034. This location was favoured by an independent technical commission that studied several possible sites.

The new airport will replace Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport, which is near the city centre, but the current airport will be expanded while the new airport is being built.

“The government sees having one single airport as a solution more suited to the country’s strategic interests,” Montenegro told a news conference.

Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz said the project would cost up to €9 billion (US$9.74 billion), adding it would be funded through EU funds, public-private partnerships and airport tariffs, not the state budget.

The government plans to initiate talks with airport operator ANA, owned by French construction firm Vinci. ANA already holds a concession for a new airport in the Lisbon region.

To expedite travel between the Alcochete airport and Lisbon city centre, the government will build a third bridge crossing the Tagus River. Pinto Luz mentioned that it is still undecided whether the bridge will be exclusively for trains or also for vehicles.

The announcement comes after several studies and decades of indecision. The tourism industry has grown increasingly frustrated in recent years as Lisbon’s main airport is operating at full capacity.

Portugal is experiencing a tourism boom, attracting record numbers of visitors. Foreigners staying in Portuguese hotels made the first quarter of 2024 the best on record.