Explainer
What has actually been decided about the new Lisbon airport — and what has not
The site is fixed in law. The design, the environmental approval, the money and the opening date are not. A component-by-component guide.
Investigation
The 28 September letter: what the Government sent back to ANA
Demand, Code F, a single terminal and the calendar. The Government’s response to the technical report reopens the design’s biggest questions.
Explainer
€7.9–8.9 billion: what the number does and does not tell you
The estimate is a range, at 2024 prices, from the concessionaire’s report. Here is how to read it — and why it cannot be compared with the 2024 figure.
Explainer
One terminal, two runways: the July 2026 design in detail
What ANA’s technical report proposes, which figures come from where, and what the Government wants changed.
Explainer
Code F: why the largest aircraft shape a runway debate
The Government wants proof the airport works for the widest-winged aircraft. What Code F is, and why it matters for runways, taxiways and stands.
Explainer
The environmental study: 5,000 pages and an empty register
ANA delivered its environmental impact study on 31 July 2026. What it covers, where the process stands, and why a blank register field is not the end of the story.
Explainer
The 20-minute train: the rail link and the Third Tagus Crossing
The airport’s headline access promise rests on a bridge and a line that are not yet built or approved. What has been announced, and by whom.
Explainer
Roads to Alcochete: what is planned, and what is still unclear
250 km of new roads — or more than 250, depending on who you ask — and a list of national roads to be linked, dualled or improved.
Investigation
From 2030 to 2035 (and 2037?): how the opening date moved
In 2024 the first runway was due in 2030. In 2026 the airport opens 'from 2035'. A third date circulates without a primary source. The record, in order.
Explainer
Moving the military: Alter do Chão and the demilitarisation of the range
The airport’s site is an active firing range. Clearing it, and replacing it, is a project in its own right.
Explainer
Half a century of searching: Alcochete, Montijo, Vendas Novas and the 2024 choice
Why Alcochete won, what was rejected, and how to avoid confusing old plans and images with the current one.
Explainer
The concession process explained: four reports and a complete application
The airport is being prepared under ANA’s existing concession contract. How the procedure works, where it stands and what comes next.
Investigations and explainers
Plain-language guides to the decisions, the design, the money and the open questions.
Facts on this page as of · Corrections
Illustration — not to scale, not the airport design