Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal, is a key attraction for global investors because of its good and eco-friendly infrastructure, highly innovative tech companies which are globally recognized, educational institutions ranking among the top universities in Europe, and best health care departments. The beautiful landscapes of the city are loved by a large number of investors. Lisbon is also popular because of its sustainability in real estate making people want to buy homes in Portugal. Hence, the increasing number of global investors and tourists deciding to visit or move to Lisbon or Portugal is putting a lot of pressure on the air traffic of Lisbon. To increase the airport capacity, Portugal is planning the Lisbon Airport Expansion.
Reason behind the Increasing Interest of Global Investors
Portugal, a southwestern European country, is very popular among investors seeking the best EU residency by investment programs. The main reason behind this popularity is Portugal golden visa, which allows residents to live in the country for 5 years with a minimum stay requirement of 7 days a year. The Portugal residency program not only provides EU residency permits to its investors but also visa free travel to Schengen states.
Moreover, the families of investors can have complete access to the best healthcare and educational sectors of Portugal. We also know that the high tech cities of Portugal, like Lisbon and Porto, are in high demand for entrepreneurs and businessmen who are thinking of traveling and setting up their businesses abroad, and for families who want to invest in sustainable real estate. This increases the interest of foreign investors in Portugal and its cities, such as Lisbon and Porto.
Urgent Need for Expansion of Lisbon Airport Capacity
Portugal has decided to expand lisbon airport capacity to meet the capacity of the people travelling to Portugal until a new airport is formed.
Challenges Currently Faced by Humberto Delgado Airport
The rise of global interest in Portugal has resulted in a lot of people traveling to Lisbon. This is creating difficulties for Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport as the airport staff is now unable to manage so many passengers. The space is getting full day by day and needs to be free urgently to manage the operations smoothly.
Expansion Plan Submitted by ANA
ANA, Aeroportos de Portugal, which is responsible for managing 10 airports in Portugal, considering the situation at Humberto Delgado Airport, submitted an expansion plan for Lisbon Airport to the government. The plan stated that the management or operations team of the airport should be able to manage Lisbon flight movements in a way that it can handle 45 flights per hour which is far more than the flights handled by them in the previous years. The deadline for the submission of this plan was postponed till the end of July. But it was delivered to the government by ANA on the 1st of August.
Official Statements By the Ministry of Infrastructure
Miguel Pinto Luz, the minister of infrastructure and housing Portugal, said in an official announcement, “On August 1st, the Government received from ANA - Aeroportos de Portugal the report on the expansion plan for Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD), as determined in Council of Ministers Resolution No. 67/2024 of May 27th, “ observing that “the concessionaire’s proposal includes all necessary investments to expand the declared capacity.”
He further added, “It is urgent that we not waste a single day on the new airport, so that in 10 years’ time we can be inaugurating the new airport and dismantling Portela Airport. But until then, we must ensure that the limitations we face at Humberto Delgado are minimized and that we ensure the best comfort and safety conditions for all users and professionals of this infrastructure.”
Expansion Plan Aims to Enhance Lisbon Airport Operations
The Lisbon airport expansion plan was submitted to help the airport function better and meet the passenger capacity in the coming years until a new airport named Louis de Camoes Airport is built, which, according to the predictions, will be built after 10 years.
The Portuguese Government stated in the expansion plan, “These measures, provided for in Council of Ministers Resolution No. 67/2024, include the development of a phased investment plan, across all necessary subsystems, to increase the airport’s declared operational capacity to a maximum of 45 movements per hour,”.
The executive of the government further said, “Given the complexity and technical specificity of the matter, the Government has requested the competent authorities in the sector to review the presented plan, with a view to its possible validation.”
The government has asked the aviation sector to first review and approve the statements as the issue is technical. After the approval gained by the aviation sector, the airport company (ANA) will create an Environmental Impact Study to make sure that the infrastructure of the new airport is eco-friendly and is not negatively impacting the environment in any way. Then the plan will be submitted to the Portuguese Environment Agency for the remaining procedure.
€30 Million Upgrade Plan for Montijo Airbase
The minister, Miguel Pinto Luz also announced that the government is deciding to move the Figo Maduro airbase of Lisbon airport to Montijo Airbase. This relocation will be done by 2028. The upgrade of the Montijo airbase will require an amount of €30 million but will have a positive impact on the infrastructure of Portugal as it will increase Portugal air capacity and will improve the operations of the current airport. This will make things work smoothly until the new airport is formed. He believes this will be a great step for the future of investment in Portugal.
Real estate investment in Portugal is all time high making it top destination in Europe. Statistics by Eurostat reveals that the house prices in Portugal rises in the Q1 of 2025 by 16.3% when compared with the Q1 of 2024. This is the highest growth in entire European Union and Euro Area. With 15.1% and 13.1%, Bulgaria and Croatia were the two other leading countries in EU with house price rise. Finland experienced drop in house prices with -1.9%.