Lisbon Airport handled around 960,000 passengers in the week of World Youth Day (WYD), about 10,000 more passengers per day than normal in the summer peak, ANAC announced today.
In a statement published on its website, the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC) reported that “between July 30 and August 7, during World Youth Day (WYD), around 960,000 passengers were handled at Lisbon Airport”.
According to the aviation regulator, on July 30 and 31 and August 6 and 7 the mark of 110,000 passengers per day was exceeded, corresponding to an increase of about 10,000 passengers per day compared to what is normal for the summer peak.
Even so, the figures recorded during WYD did not exceed the historical maximum of 113,555 passengers handled at Portela on July 16, an official source from ANAC told Lusa.
“Despite the large flow of passengers, simultaneously with strike situations, it was found that the airport operation in these days took place without significantly more impactful constraints than those already arising from the circumstances of the summer operation at Humberto Delgado Airport”, pointed out the regulator.
ANAC, which was present daily at Lisbon airport with several teams during WYD, also thanked the workers, all those involved in the civil aviation system, the passengers who collaborated with the authorities and the entities involved in the religious event, who contributed “to the success of the event”.
WYD Lisbon ended on Sunday, the same day Pope Francis, who arrived in Portugal on Wednesday, returned to the Vatican.
The biggest event of the Catholic Church brought together about 1.5 million young people in Parque Tejo (Lisbon) for a mass and a vigil, with the presence of Pope Francis.
The next WYD will be held in four years’ time in Seoul, South Korea.