Platform “Airport out, Lisbon improves” say authorities have done nothing to improve their plight
Citizens platform “Airport out, Lisbon improves” has called for a gathering of citizens today, in protest against the “inaction of the authorities” in the face of the noise and pollution caused by Lisbon airport.
In the protest action scheduled for 7:00 pm, taking place at the exit of the Humberto Delgado Airport metro station, citizens will demand the end of night flights, the closure of the airport, the urgent construction of the new Lisbon airport (in Alcochete) and “a new green lung in the city”.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Sérgio Morais, from the platform, said that the initiative aims to show the discontent of people who live, work and/ or study in areas affected by the noise and pollution generated by airplanes.
“We are very concerned about the dragging on of this situation. The competent authorities continue to ignore us. It is summer. Flights have increased and we are increasingly inconvenienced. We do not see a way forward to resolve this. We have not heard anything about the construction of the new airport,” he said (even though it was over a year ago…).
Sérgio Morais said that the noise caused by airplanes means that citizens living in the neighborhoods of Areeiro, Alvalade, Campolide, Campo de Ourique, Camarate, Lumiar and São João da Talha “sleep badly, have classes interrupted, have medical appointments interrupted, smell fuel incessantly, and often suffer high blood pressure related to noise”.
According to Morais, the problem has worsened “significantly in recent years” – despite the announcement last year by the Government that flights from Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon would be banned between 01:00 and 05:00, following conclusions from the working group on night flights.
“We have noticed that the number of flights has been increasing, especially since it is summer. That is why we decided to hold this gathering, to alert the wider population to the problems,” he said.
Sérgio Morais said that the platform will put up a mural, a panel for posting messages.
“We will have an insomnia wall, a panel where messages can be left about what it is like to live near an airport. It is called insomnia – but it is not exclusively a problem at night, of course,” he added.
Morais also said that the platform will request a meeting with the Government to discuss the problems affecting so many residential areas.
In November 2024, the Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz (who remains in office in the current legislature), announced that flights would be banned in Lisbon between 01:00 and 05:00, as recommended by a working group that analysed the issue and delivered its final report in July 2022.
In March of this year, even before the legislative elections, the Council of Ministers ordered the National Civil Aviation Authority to implement restrictions on night operations.
At issue, the PSD/CDS executive then indicated, were restrictions on the operation of noisier aircraft between 23:00 and 07:00, in addition to the imposition of a period without `slots’ (‘hard-curfew’) between 01:00 and 05:00, as well as the implementation of new aeronautical procedures to reduce noise.
None of this takes the problem away, of course: that cannot happen before the construction of the new airport, which shows no signs of moving forwards with any semblance of alacrity.
Source material: LUSA
