Martins noted that while the airport now serves 17 million passengers, the last major expansion was only projected to serve 6 million, underscoring the airport’s rapid, unexpected growth.

According to the president of Turismo do Porto e Norte, this “is an airport with great appeal, as evidenced by the airlines that continue to arrive. We now know that without investment, this growth will eventually face problems, as is currently the case with Lisbon Airport’s operations. The best way to avoid what is happening in Lisbon today is to look ahead,” he emphasised.

For Luís Pedro Martins, “looking ahead means acting early”; therefore, he urged, it is necessary to act now and “make the investment before we are fighting against the damage.” He called on stakeholders to commit to immediate action to secure the airport’s future.

“The government has also been very clear and very forthright with Vinci [which owns ANA Aeroportos], stating that this investment must go ahead because it is, in fact, strategic infrastructure for the region—and not just for tourism. We talk a lot about tourism when we discuss the airport, but it’s important to understand that this region is the country’s leading exporter; 40% of exports come from the Porto and North region,” he noted.

The government has created a technical group to oversee the expansion of Porto Airport, including, among others, ANA and Infraestruturas de Portugal, which is expected to complete its work by 31 December.

Regarding the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on tourism in the region, Luís Pedro Martins said that the markets, fortunately, “are vast today.”

“We don’t depend on just one, two, or even three markets. We have very mature markets right here nearby, such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Poland, and our domestic market,” as well as Canada, the United States, and Brazil, which, he believes, “find in Portugal the security they need to be able to continue travelling.”

Still, “just as our tourists cannot travel to the Asia-Pacific region—which was where we were focusing our efforts—they will also find it harder to get here. And that goal we set for 2025 may, perhaps, be more difficult to achieve during this period,” he acknowledged.

Luís Pedro Martins spoke at the presentation of the Delta Air Lines route, which will connect Porto Airport to New York (JFK) daily, nonstop, starting 22 May.