On May 27th, 2024, the Portuguese Government published three Resolutions on important investments to be implemented in the country, establishing the following:

1. The location of the new Luís de Camões Airport, in Alcochete, and rules for its construction (Resolution No. 66/2024);
2. Measures to strengthen the traffic capacity of Humberto Delgado Airport (Resolution No. 67/2024); and
3. A calendar for the completion of studies on the third Tagus crossing and the high-speed connection between Lisbon and Madrid, by Infraestruturas de Portugal, S. A., (Resolution No. 68/2024).

New Luís de Camões Airport

Luís de Camões Airport will fully replace Humberto Delgado Airport, although both will remain in operation while the construction of the new airport is not completed, to minimize the consequences of disruption to passenger air traffic.

ANA Aeroportos has 6 months to draft the initial report and 36 months to prepare the tenders for New Lisbon Airport, including a public consultation report; an environmental impact assessment; a financial report, and a technical report. 

Reinforcement of the traffic capacity of Humberto Delgado Airport

According to the report of an Independent Technical Commission (CTI), the new airport will not be operational before 2030, requiring the reinforcement of the current capacity of Humberto Delgado Airport to accommodate the growth of passenger traffic in the coming years.

This entails investments in the airport's subsystems: such as taxiways, airstrips, aprons, terminals, and accessibility; as well as an increase in the number of air movements. The Government has set up a monitoring group to work to achieve an annual traffic volume of 40 to 45 million passengers.  It also determined that investments at Humberto Delgado Airport should be limited to only those necessary, considering the temporary nature of the solution.

Third Crossing on the Tagus and High-Speed Rail

Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A. is obliged to anticipate the conclusion of the studies on the main topological characteristics of the third crossing of the Tagus on the Chelas-Barreiro axis, by the end of 2024, to allow a final decision by the Government.

The emerging costs must receive European funding, through the Portugal 2030 Programme, in the amount of EUR 1,980,000, with the national counterpart being supported by funds to be included in the Activity Plan and budget of Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A.

The third crossing of the Tagus will be developed in a road-rail model, and eventually a road component.

As for the financing model, and taking into account the multimodality of this infrastructure, as well as the existence of an autonomous concession model for the various crossings of the Tagus, it should be evaluated through a management solution that includes: (i) the construction of a new crossing and (ii) the operation and maintenance of the three crossings of the Tagus, once the term of the current concession has expired.