The environmental association ZERO has highlighted the continued non-compliance with the ban on flights between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., an issue persisting for three years, as crucial time slots for airlines are soon to be set for the upcoming summer.
The association refers to the upcoming publication of the final ‘Slot Allocation List’, a document that bindingly sets all take-off and landing permissions at national airports from late March to late October 2026.
“Based on World Health Organization methodology, ZERO estimates that the cumulative costs related to noise from Humberto Delgado airport on the health of citizens in Lisbon, Loures, and Almada (inconvenience, morbidity) and economically (loss of productivity, property devaluation) have amounted to almost 12 billion euros since 2015,” reads a statement from the association.
The association recalled a study commissioned by the Ministry of Infrastructure, following the establishment of a parliamentary working group on night flights at Humberto Delgado Airport: “In 2022, it concluded that, given the impact on around 388,000 people from night noise levels exceeding the maximum limit for residential areas in the General Noise Regulation, all flights between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. should be banned.”
The measure, they argue, is “essential both to protect the health of hundreds of thousands of people and to reduce the negative economic impact” associated with nighttime aircraft noise.
In this context, ZERO has urged the Government to utilize all its powers to ensure that the flight schedule for the next summer season fully respects the silent period between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
“It is also crucial that effective monitoring and penalty mechanisms are implemented for any nighttime movements outside this interval, ensuring full data transparency and accountability of involved entities,” they suggested.
