After decades of discussions, the Portuguese government has now decided on a location for the new Lisbon International Airport – named after Luís de Camões, one of Portugal’s most important poets. The aviation hub is to be built on the site of a former military airfield in the municipality of Alcochete 40 kilometers east of Lisbon and will be completed by 2034, explained Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.

The location was favored by an independent commission. It is planned that the new airport will replace Humberto Delgado Airport, which is located near the city center. However, this is to be expanded during the construction of the new airport, reports the aviation portal «Airliners».

Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz said that the project would cost up to nine billion euros (around 8.8 billion Swiss francs). It is to be financed with the help of EU support, public-private partnerships and other funds, but not from the state budget. For the construction, talks will be held with the airport operator Aeroportos de Portugal, which belongs to the French construction company Vinci.

A third bridge is to be built over the River Tagus to bring passengers from the new airport to the centre of Lisbon more quickly. It is still unclear whether the bridge will only be used solely for trains or also for vehicles. Portugal is currently experiencing a tourism boom, attracting record numbers of travellers, and the current airport is operating at full capacity.