The information was released by Correio da Manhã (CM), which revealed that the Boeing 777 was flying over the Murtas neighbourhood when the pilot realised that there was an aircraft about to take off on the runway. The Emirates Airlines plane was 350 metres high and one kilometre from the runway.

The incident occurred at 11:48 am, on 4 January. The crew regained altitude and managed to land at midday without any problems.

NAV Portugal, quoted by CM, reveals that the situation is recurrent at several airports and that these are “studied and worked operations that occur by decision of the pilot or air traffic control.”

The same source states that the last plane to land at the airport was delayed in leaving the runway, causing a delay in the remaining take-offs, which led to a warning from the Emirates flight crew.