In a written response to Lusa, ANA Aeroportos de Portugal said it was surprised by this decision, because “it is based on the interim report of the Independent Technical Commission (CTI), which was subject to strong criticism during the public consultation”.

The airport manager highlighted that she disagrees with APA's understanding that that interim report, possible changes to territorial management instruments or the possible deepening by APA on ecological systems “constitute a change in circumstances that justifies this proposed decision”.

ANA also regretted “the difference in criteria applied to the various requests for renewal of the DIA presented by the ANA in recent years, specifically for Alcochete” and added that it will comment on the APA's decision within the legal period of 10 days.

For airport manager da Vinci, the proposal from the entity led by Nuno Lacasta could “harm the options available to the next Government for implementing a quick and effective solution to increase airport capacity in the Lisbon region”.

The non-renewal of the DIA was welcomed by the environmental association Zero. Zero and eight environmental organizations delivered an opinion on Monday in the public consultation on the Strategic Environmental Assessment of the new Lisbon airport, in which they emphasised that all options that include Montijo are “environmentally unfeasible”.

The organizations call on APA and the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) to refuse from now on the renewal of the DIA relating to Montijo airport and its accessibility, given the existence of new relevant information that was not known at the time of environmental licensing process completed in early 2020.

Acácio Pires, from Zero, explained to Lusa that the relevant information is a study that indicates that the bird population affected in the Tagus estuary would be much higher than initially estimated and that at the time the Lisbon with Montijo option was not environmentally evaluated, but just the Montijo option.

The decision not to renew the DIA was announced on 30 January by the television station SIC, after an unfavourable opinion from the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF).