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New airport will be in Alcochete
• 01 Apr 2008 •
The government has agreed that Lisbon’s new international airport will be located in Alcochete, on the south bank of the River Tejo. The decision was announced recently after months of studies and heated debate and comes six months after preparation work for the construction of the airport NAL, Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa, at Ota was suspended at the request of the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC), which demanded independent comparative studies of the two sites.
Prime Minister, José Sócrates, said the decision was made on the basis of two vital aspects.
According to an LNEC- commissioned study, Alcochete has a number of key points in its favour including environmental considerations, weather factors (the land is dryer and not subject to low lying fog and flooding), greater air- traffic capacity, proximity
to Lisbon, sustainability of natural resources and advantages in terms of economic and social development and cost.
The Prime Minister added that, depite objections, from an environmental point of view, there is not one critical factor that can be called into question by this decision. He stressed that the LNEC reports demonstrated sufficient evidence that both sites were viable and sustainable, but admitted that out of seven critical factors which could influence the eventual decision, most fell down on the side of Alcochete, a site also favoured by the President of the Republic, Cavaco Silva.
Alcochete is perilously near to protected wetlands which sustain a number of birds and aquatic plants and which environmental groups such as ‘Quercus’ are keen to see preserved. José Sócrates said that the final decision had not been financial, given that the costs were similar, with Alcochete having a slight advantage over Ota.
The decision has already caused property speculation, with properties close to the projected airport site soaring by between 15 and 25 per cent within 24 hoursof the announcement. |  Return to Top
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