The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing announced that the National Slot Coordination, the independent entity of NAV Portugal in charge of allocating time slots for landing or take-off at coordinated national airports, received over 100 slot requests for operations at Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD) between November 9 and 13. Of these, 95 requests were approved, with only seven being denied due to current unavailability at the facility.
It noted a 70% increase in slots granted for private flights compared to the same period during the Web Summit 2024.
At the Cascais Municipal Aerodrome, 51 flights are currently scheduled, while Faro and Porto airports expect 29 and 19 private flights, respectively. No operational requests have been registered for Beja so far.
For AHD, the government clarified that slot allocation is based on defined technical criteria, which for private flights include a maximum ground time of 45 minutes (turnaround) and a 10-day advance application requirement.
“At certain times of the day, AHD’s capacity is entirely exhausted,” it emphasized, noting the pre-authorization of 38 movements per hour as the declared capacity.
The government assured that national airport infrastructures “remain fully available to accommodate private operations,” particularly highlighting the Cascais Municipal Aerodrome as the “reference aerodrome for executive aviation in the Lisbon region,” as well as the airports of Beja, Faro, and Porto.
However, it is “closely monitoring the situation,” remaining “available to adopt exceptional measures if necessary,” such as “temporarily lifting operational restrictions applicable to aerodromes,” including opening during nighttime hours.
“Portugal reaffirms its total availability and capacity to host any global-scale event, such as the Web Summit, and warmly welcome its participants,” the ministry added.
It recalled that Lisbon has hosted the Web Summit for nine years, a period during which the event has become “an international success story.”
The newspaper Expresso reported last Saturday, citing the Financial Times, that several private jets bound for Lisbon were diverted to Badajoz, Spain, “due to the lack of capacity at the Portuguese capital’s airport during the Web Summit.”
The event’s organization confirmed this information, acknowledging complaints from delegates forced to land far from Lisbon.
