Heavy air traffic goes hand in hand with growing tourism in Lisbon and Portugal in general. Image: Shutterstock

Aauthorities in Portugal plan to ban flight departures and arrivals to Lisbon between 01:00 and 05:00 in response to residents’ objections to noise and pollution.

Soon, visitors will no longer arrive at Lisbon Airport around the clock. Speaking to parliament, Portugal’s Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, said the Portuguese capital will soon see no flights between 1am and 5am, reports SchengenNews.

This solution aims to reduce not only the noise of the air traffic, but also the pollution, two complaints widely condemned by the people of Lisbon. Although the number of night flights is technically limited, the NGO Zero claims that this limit is not being respected. Each week, Lisbon is supposed to see no more than 92 night flights. In reality, there are around 160, according to estimates by the collective “Aeroporto fora, Lisboa melhora” (Airport out, Lisbon is improving), which has helped voice the concerns of Lisbon residents. It remains to be seen when this curfew will come into effect.

Heavy air traffic goes hand in hand with growing tourism in Lisbon and Portugal in general. Between January and August this year, the country welcomed 13.1 million visitors, an increase of 6.7% compared to the previous year.

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