In a statement dated 1 August 2026, ANA said it had delivered the final report of the environmental impact study for the new airport to the Portuguese Environment Agency ‘yesterday’ — 31 July. (Our research baseline had recorded 1 August; we corrected it, and the correction is public.)
The environmental impact study in numbers
- about 5,000pages in the environmental impact study
- more than 60specialists who worked on it, per ANA
- 31 July 2026delivered to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA)
Printed single-sided, the study would make a pile about 50 cm high (at 0.1 mm a sheet).
- Study delivered
- APA checks it is complete
- Public consultation
- Environmental decision (DIA)
Illustration — not to scale, not the airport design
Flamingos and egrets on the Tagus mudflats, one of Europe's most important wetlands for birds.
Illustration: Luís de Camões Airport Observatory (original work).
What the study covers
According to ANA, the study runs to about 5,000 pages, was prepared over 18 months by more than 60 specialists, and covers water resources, noise, ecological systems, air quality, population health and socioeconomics. ANA says it consulted public and private bodies, including the councils of the municipalities concerned, and identified minimisation and compensation measures.
Where the process stands
APA’s register lists the case as AIA 3982, ‘Novo Aeroporto de Lisboa (NAL) no Campo de Tiro de Alcochete (CTA) – Aeroporto Luís de Camões’, with ANA as proponent, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing as licensing authority and Benavente and Montijo as municipalities. When we checked on 17 and 18 October 2026, the fields for the start and end of public consultation, the decision and its date were empty.
That tells us what the public register shows. It does not prove that nothing else has happened — conformity checks, for example, may be under way without appearing there.
Why 2010 does not count
An earlier airport solution at the eastern end of the firing range received a conditional favourable environmental declaration in 2010. It has lapsed, and the 2026 design needs its own decision.
What to watch
- The opening of public consultation and the availability of all volumes, maps and the non-technical summary.
- The conditions APA attaches to any decision.
- Noise contours and flight paths, which depend on runway design still under review.