“The environmental impact study should look at different alternatives, reviewing what is planned in relation to Benavente [one of the optional locations for a new airport, and justifying why it is not moving forward with this option, which seems positive from the point of view of the resources involved for the construction of a new airport” the president of Zero told Lusa News Agency.
Francisco Ferreira also stressed the need to analyse the combined management of Humberto Delgado Airport with Montijo Airport.
Both Montijo and Benevente were originally put forward as possible new locations for a secondary Lisbon airport, along with Alcochete.
Montijo seems to be the front-runner with latest reports claiming an agreement is set to be signed this month to convert the Montijo air base into a civilian airport for Lisbon’s overflow.
Emphasising that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) “should be unequivocally obligatory,” the expert says that “everything indicates that the complementarities made by an airport in Montijo is very positive.”
In recent days, several media outlets have run stories that the Government and ANA – Airports of Portugal – are preparing to sign a memorandum of understanding to develop the necessary studies for the use of Montijo airbase as the complementary airport to Humberto Delgado.
Zero listed five critical questions for the assessment of using Montijo for civilian means, an alternative that the association nonetheless recognises would offer “an enormous saving on resources” in comparison to building a brand new airport in Benavente.
Nature conservation, Francisco Ferreira said, “is maybe one of the biggest problems” as a new airport would affect the Tagus Estuary, a special protection area and nature reserve crossed by several migratory bird routes.
Birds, Mr. Ferreira warned, are in themselves “a problem for aircraft” as they increase the risk of collision, which “is serious and needs to be properly addressed and clarified.”
Noise is another key issue unsettling the environmentalists as should the proposed direction of the runways gain shape, Baixa da Banheira, in the municipality of Moita, “would be heavily affected.”
Airport pollutants such as particulates and nitrogen oxides are also concerns.
Zero further wants to know how access to Montijo airport would be addressed, with Francisco Ferreira listing a series of transport possibilities, such as a ferry to Seixalinho dock, road, or by extending the Pinhal Novo train line and the South Tagus Metro to Montijo.
He argued opting for Montijo would nonetheless entail implications for land planning, as “these infrastructures always create increased pressure on real estate, not only for housing, but eventually for potential tourism for the south bank.”