Lisbon Airport completes terminal expansion and new transit area

Portugal's Lisbon Portela Airport completed (17-Jul-2013) its expansion project with new "International and Transit Terminal", which includes dedicated areas for processing transit passengers and the expansion of the airport's baggage system. The airport noted the addition coincides with TAP Portugal's "paradigm shift" from offering primarily point-to-point traffic to transit traffic, and will allow the facility to handle 40 operations per hour, with a goal of expanding to 42 per hour. The expansion includes:

• Increase in terminal area from 230,000sqm to 406,000sqm;
• Additional passport control points in arrivals (from 21 to 30 positions) and departures (from 16 to 30 positions) areas;
• New security screening point for transit passengers;
• New disembarkation gates from aircraft parked at remote positions;
• New 2000sqm shopping and leisure areas with 20 new shops and a "more diversified" range of commercial offerings - including Portugal's first Hediard and Iberia's first Victoria's Secret - producing an estimated turnover of EUR15 million p/a and increasing retail space at the airport by 80%;
• Expansion of the baggage claim hall with five additional belts.

The new areas reduce the immediate need for a new airport, while Secertary of State for Transport Segio Monteiro, as quoted by Dinheiro Vivo, noted, "In the concession agreement [with Vinci] rules were defined which no longer leaves it to politicians to set the date on which this airport is exhausted and passes this decision on to be made by technical indicators". Mr Monteiro added, "This is the new Lisbon Airport. The new airport is here." [more - original PR - Expansion - Portuguese] [more - original PR - New commercial space - Portuguese]