The consortium that will carry out a comparative assessment on the location of the new airport has already been chosen, but the contract has not yet been signed. It is an eagerly awaited analysis, when overcrowding at Lisbon airport is once again a concern. The consortium chosen by the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT) joins COBA – Consultants for Engineering and Environment and Engineering and Transport Economics

With the return of activity on the table to approach the values ​​of 2019 and the urgent need to be building the new airport in greater Lisbon, to get back in touch with the airport of Humberto Delgado airport, which remains the same with the same constraints of the pre-pandemic period, as reported by the Express.

There won’t be a new airport anytime soon. Although the consortium that carried out the Strategic Environmental Engineering (AAE) has already been chosen, the contract has not yet been signed, and before mid-2023 the study is not completed. Montijo and Alcochete are the options on the table.

There is no delivery date, but it is assumed that the AAE will take about a year to complete. Then the decision will have to be made, and debated politically, and history has told us that it will be an intense debate. Once the decision has been made, the construction will proceed, which will never take less than three to four years.

AAE initialization may drag. Which choice of winner has raised possible competition problems for the competitor, as it is related to a company by competitor Portugal. Ineco’s main shareholder is ENAIRE, which holds 45.85% of Ineco, and ENAIRE is 51% owned by the Spanish State. Doubts that the Minister of Infrastructure, Pedro Nuno Santos, said he would assess. There was, however, no contestation of the tender and everything indicates that the process can move forward.

The public international tender for carrying out the strategic environmental assessment of Lisbon was launched by the Government on October 18, 2021. And the IMT, responsible for the tender, has already underlined this Friday that there was no tender for the process by the other competitors .

“On April 8, 2022, the IMT awarded the contract to the INECO/COBA Consortium, having not yet entered into a contract. Once the contract is signed, all procedures will be sent for prior review by the Accounting Court. The IMT was not cited. of any contentious challenge,” he said in a statement sent to newsrooms.

A consortium consortium to the government of companies COBA – Environmental assessment consultants of strategic interest for the capacity of the region of engineering party and the Liberal environmental assessment companies of the region of engineering party to possible doubts to the Liberal Initiative of Controversy to the Government of Lisbon and to the companies that led to the possible existence of a questionnaire the Government of Lisbon to possible existence of conflict of conflict the Government of the companies , as I already noticed the Express.

In question the fact, the Spanish public service company Ineco is specialized in transport consulting engineering with more than 50 years of activity that has played an important role in the Spanish airports company. On its website, the company states that it “participated in the process of updating the entire airport network”. What, on average, informed him to export the services with “important contracts in the East, Europe, Asia and Latin America”.

The COBA/IVECO consortium presented the lowest price: 1,999,980 euros. In second place was the proposal presented by the consultancy PwC and Quadrante Engenharia e Consultoria (2,295.00 euros).

Location is government choice

The IMT, questioned by the Express on May 5, he assures that there are no conflicts of interest, and stresses that the choice of location is the government’s responsibility.

“In the scope of the procedure, all the situations of interest contracts were in the light of the Public Code”, said the official source of the IMT. And an explanation that “a procedure was opened for the acquisition of services for the development of a strategic environmental assessment. The strategic environmental assessment is defined in national and European legislation and is intended to design the environmental and economic effects of environmental options, allowing the public to participate and listen to the public and allowing the public to participate and evaluate with environmental responsibilities”.

The IMT then added that “at the end of the procedure, it will not decide that it will be up to the government to take into account the factors considered in the final report”.

The Strategic Environmental Assessment will focus on three alternative hypotheses for airport capacity for the Lisbon region: Humberto Delgado as the main infrastructure and Montijo as a complement; Montijo with the progressive status of main airport; and Alcochete.