Government implements ‘hard curfew’ following years of complaints
Flights are (at long last) to be banned from Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport between the hours of 1am and 5am.
Efforts by citizens, environmental groups and even the City Council itself, will have helped power this decision announced by Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz.
Pinto Luz told parliament yesterday – as part of the special examination of the proposed State Budget – that the move followed the conclusions of a working group put together to study the issue of night flights.
“The working group (…) has already concluded and I can announce here that we are going to implement a ‘hard curfew’ that will prevent flights between 01:00 and 05:00 in the morning,” he said, in response to a question put by LIVRE MP Isabel Mendes Dias.
The minister admitted the decision is “a giant step forward” compared to what is currently happening – referring to the “criticism from municipalities, mayors and citizens regarding the noise caused by airplanes, as well as pollution”.
The announcement came within a day of a protest outside the city’s airport by dozens of residents demanding, among other changes, “the right to rest” – and followed multiple complaints from various quarters on how ‘rules’ on the maximum number of air movements per week are consistently being flouted.
As reports on Wednesday’s protest explained, citizens want the obsolete airport closed as soon as possible and the airport sighted ‘outside the city’, in an area that will reduce the negative consequences impacting people’s lives. This is meant to be happening, albeit timings are unclear.
The only important detail missing from Miguel Pinto Luz’s announcement was a date at which point Lisbon’s skies will quieten for all of four hours.
Source material: LUSA
