"The achievement of the goal of 45 movements per hour, which should occur in a phased manner, will require the study of the works to be carried out and will be monitored by the monitoring group", explained the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing, in a written response to Lusa.

In a Resolution of the Council of Ministers published on Monday, the Government determined the development of a detailed investment plan and the creation of a monitoring group "with a view to achieving the goal of increasing the capacity from 38 to 45 movements per hour at Humberto Delgado Airport" (AHD).

According to that resolution, the monitoring group will be "coordinated by the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, and with the participation of a representative of the Ministry of National Defense, as well as representatives of other entities involved in this process".

The ministry led by Miguel Pinto Luz pointed out today that a resolution of the previous government, published in December, determined ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal to carry out works in Portela that "will allow reaching 40 movements per hour, according to the NAV Memorandum of May 3".

The resolution published on Monday also determines that the Portuguese Air Navigation (NAV Portugal) presents "a plan to expand the capacity of Lisbon's airspace with a view to reaching 45 movements per hour, with the possibility of adding another two for air traffic to/from the municipal aerodrome of Cascais".

Questioned by Lusa, an official source from NAV said that the Resolution of the Council of Ministers "takes into account the conditions identified by NAV Portugal to increase the number of movements to a declared capacity of 45 mov/hour at AHD" and that "among these is the Point Merge System now implemented", and that "the acquisition of the new TopSky Tower system will contribute to this objective".

Lusa asked about the deadline for the preparation of the expansion plan by NAV, but neither the air traffic service provider nor the Government responded.

The resolution of the previous government provided for a negotiating commission which, according to the new executive, was never constituted.

Thus, the resolution that came into force today also provides for the constitution of a negotiating commission, replacing the one that was previously planned, which "will also cover other matters (in addition to those identified in the Resolution of the Council of Ministers No. 201/2023, of December 28), namely, a permanent civil use of the space assigned to Transit Aerodrome No. 1 [Figo Maduro], in addition to the part to be removed from the military public domain".

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