Infrastructure and Housing Minister Miguel Pinto Luz says the Government has formally asked ANA Aeroportos to make a collective effort to bring forward the opening of Luís de Camões Airport at Alcochete.

The request would see the first aircraft land there in 2034, earlier than the timetable currently being worked on by the airport concessionaire.

Pinto Luz revealed the request during the VIII Portuguese Tourism Summit in Lisbon, saying he had written to ANA asking everyone involved in the project to find ways of shortening the process.

ANA chairman José Luís Arnaut said the company shares the Government’s desire to move more quickly, but stressed that this would require deadlines to be shortened across the various organisations involved, not simply by the airport operator.

A moving timetable

Exactly when Portugal’s long-awaited new Lisbon airport will open has already shifted as the project has developed.

The Government has been working towards an opening from 2035, while ANA’s detailed technical work has pointed to a later timetable, with construction beginning around 2030 and operations potentially starting in 2037.

The latest Government push is an attempt to bring that forward again, this time to 2034.

That means the date should still be treated as an ambition rather than a confirmed opening.

There are several stages to get through first.

ANA is due to submit its financial report in January 2027, completing the four interim reports required as part of the preparation process. The full application for the new airport is expected in January 2028.

The Government would then make a decision on whether to formally invite ANA to move forward with the project.

Work is also needed to demilitarise the Alcochete firing range, where the airport will be built, as well as to complete the road and rail connections needed to serve it.

Up to €8.9 billion

Current estimates put the cost of Luís de Camões Airport at between €7.9 billion and €8.9 billion, at 2024 prices.

The Government says the airport itself will be financed through private investment, although the final cost will only become clear as the project is developed.

When it opens, the airport is expected to have capacity for around 56 million passengers a year, with the possibility of eventually expanding to 85 million.

Plans also include a rail connection designed to put the airport around 20 minutes from central Lisbon.

For now, Humberto Delgado Airport remains Lisbon’s main gateway and will continue operating while the new airport is developed.

After decades of debate about where and when Lisbon should get a new airport, the question now appears to be less about whether Alcochete will happen and more about how quickly it can be built.

If the Government gets the timetable it wants, 2034 is now the date to watch.

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