Rosário Partidário, who leads the team of experts, told ECO that there are currently nine solutions on the table.

In addition to these, says the president of the independent commission, locations such as Castelo Branco, Évora or Coimbra are being proposed to experts. But only the solutions with some basis will be later analysed by the team of specialists.

The final list of possible locations will be released by the independent commission on April 27th. It is certain that at least the five hypotheses mentioned by the Government – Portela + Montijo, Montijo + Portela, Alcochete, Portela + Santarém, and Santarém – will have to be analysed by experts.

But in addition to these solutions, the independent commission has already made it known that it will also evaluate the solutions of Alverca and Beja, to which are added two other hypotheses: Monte Real and Alcochete + Portela.


Deadline


The independent technical commission has a deadline of the end of this year to deliver a report to the Government that indicates the best option for the location of the new airport, with a view to increasing Lisbon's airport capacity.

This week, the project for the new Santarém airport, the Magellan 500, will be presented. The promoters of this initiative – the municipalities of Santarém, Golegã, Torres Novas and Alcanena – will sign an inter-municipal agreement to “join efforts for planning of the territory of the new space”.

Santarém airport foresees an initial capacity of ten million passengers, growing in stages so that the infrastructure can accommodate 100 million passengers and have three runways for aircraft in operation.