The ZERO association warned today that Lisbon runs the risk of continuing to have night flights in the summer of 2026 if the Government does not act, given the approaching deadline for allocating schedules to airlines. In a statement, ZERO highlighted that the end of flights between 01:00 and 05:00 has been “unfulfilled for three years” and that in four days time slots to be allocated to airlines will be fixed for next summer.
The environmental protection association refers to the publication of the final ‘Slot Allocation List’, a document that defines, “in a binding manner”, all take-off and landing authorizations at national airports between the end of March and the end of October 2026.
“Based on a methodology from the World Health Organization, ZERO estimates that the accumulated costs related to the noise at Humberto Delgado airport on the health of the citizens of Lisbon, Loures and Almada (annoyance, morbidity) and in economic terms (loss of productivity, undervaluation of real estate assets) since 2015 amount to almost 12 billion euros today”, reads a statement from the association.
The association recalled a study carried out at the request of the Ministry of Infrastructure, following the creation of a parliamentary working group on night flights at Humberto Delgado Airport: “It concluded in 2022 that, considering the impact of around 388 thousand people by nighttime noise levels higher than the maximum limit foreseen for residential areas in the General Noise Regulation, the end of all flights between 01:00 and 05:00 in the morning should be imposed”.
The measure, he argued, is “essential both to protect the health of hundreds of thousands of people and to reduce the negative economic impact” associated with nighttime noise from planes.
In this sense, ZERO called on the Government to use all its powers to ensure that the flight schedule for the next summer season fully respects the quiet period between 01:00 and 05:00.
“It is also essential that effective monitoring and penalizing mechanisms are implemented for any night movements outside this range, ensuring total transparency of data and accountability of the entities involved”, he suggested.