“Excessive” language used to describe private jet situation

The Minister of Infrastructure has said that he was surprised by the public position of the Web Summit organisation regarding the alleged lack of capacity at Lisbon airport to receive private jets.

By TPN/Lusa, in News, Portugal · 11 Nov 2025, 18:35 · 0 Comments

"Out of 102 flights that were requested, only seven were denied, and they were denied for various reasons, and therefore, manifestly, it was - I would say - on the part of one of the founders of Web Summit that he used excessive language," said the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, in statements to Lusa.

The Portuguese newspaper Expresso reported last Saturday, citing the Financial Times, that several private jets bound for Lisbon were being diverted to Badajoz, Spain, "due to a lack of capacity at the Lisbon airport during the Web Summit."

This information was confirmed by the event's organisers, who admitted to receiving complaints from delegates forced to disembark far from Lisbon.

The Ministry of Infrastructure released a statement this morning guaranteeing that Lisbon's airport infrastructure adequately met the demand for private flight slots during the Web Summit.

"We find this public position [from the Web Summit organisation] strange. The Government, today, defending the country's image, the country's image as an attraction for investment, made clear in this statement our capacity to receive private jets," stressed Miguel Pinto Luz.

In a statement, the Government detailed that the National Slot Coordination – an entity independent of NAV Portugal responsible for allocating time slots for landing or takeoff at coordinated national airports – "received, between November 9th and 13th, more than 100 requests for 'slots' for operations at Humberto Delgado Airport (AHD), having approved 95 of the requests and only rejected seven that could not, to date, be accommodated at that infrastructure."

It was highlighted that, compared to the same period of the Web Summit 2024, there was an increase of approximately 70% in the number of 'slots' allocated to private flights.

At Cascais Municipal Aerodrome, the ministry stated that 51 flights are currently scheduled for the aforementioned period, while Faro and Porto currently have 29 and 19 private flights planned, respectively.

No operational requests have been registered in Beja so far, it added.

In the specific case of AHD, the executive explained that the allocation of slots "is based on defined technical criteria," which, in the case of private flights, include a maximum turnaround time of 45 minutes and the obligation to submit the request at least 10 days in advance of the desired date.

"At certain times of the day, however, AHD's capacity is completely exhausted due to the existence of 38 movements per hour (declared capacity) already previously authorized," it emphasized.

The executive assured that national airport infrastructures "remain fully available to accommodate private operations," particularly at Cascais Municipal Aerodrome (designated as the "reference aerodrome for executive aviation in the Lisbon region"), as well as at the airports of Beja, Faro, and Porto.

However, he assured that he is "closely monitoring this matter," remaining "available to adopt exceptional measures if necessary," including the "temporary lifting of operational restrictions applicable to aerodromes," such as opening during night-time hours.

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