Lisbon Portela Airport

Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS)

The Lisbon airport is seven kilometers northeast of the Portuguese capital. It was opened on October 15, 1942. After WW2 rapid expansion was necessary.

Lisbon Airport has to deal with the rapidly growing amount of passengers and freight. Therefore, plans have been drawn to build a new airport 50 kilometers northwest of Lisbon. A decision about that has not yet been made. However, it has been decided to make substantial renovations to the existing airport. From a study it became clear that the division of the airport and the ground movements of the airplanes were unnecessarily complicated. In the meantime there are other improvements being made including among others the construction of a new runway. There is still considerable work being done at the Portela Airport. The whole renovation should be completed in 2008.

Local transport

Train

Lisbon Airport does not have a train station. There are plans to connect the airport on the metro system of Lisbon, but that will not be realized until early 2010.

Car and bus

Portela Airport is easily accessible. The airport lies along the A1 that connects Lisbon to Porto. From Cascais/Estoril you follow highway A5. The airport is clearly indicated by signs on the A1 as well as the A5 (follow the ring road 2a). The roads and the directions to the airport can be confusing. There will be improvements, but temporarily the situation will not be made clearer.

There is a special shuttle bus (Carris number 91, one way € 1.30) that takes passengers to the centre of Lisbon in 20 minutes. The bus also stops at the train station Cais do Sodré.

Another shuttle bus (Scotturb, € 9.00) connects the airport with places such as Estoril. You can purchase a ticket with the driver for both of the shuttle busses.

Furthermore, there are town bus lines (5, 22, 44, 45 and 83) to Lisbon.

Car Rental Lisbon Portela Airport

In the Arrivals Hall of the Lisbon Airport you can find counters for various car rental companies which are: AA Castanheira/Budget, Auro Rent, Auto Jardim, Avis, Europcar, Hertz, National/Alamo and Sixt. You can also reserve a rental car in advance using the service EasyTerra provides. They compare the rates of several providers in a single quote.

Taxi

There are always plenty of taxis at the Arrivals Hall and Departures Hall. All the taxis have meters. A ride to Lisbon costs approximately ten euro, depending on the traffic. During the weekends, nights, and holidays there is a 20% surcharge.

Airport Parking

There are two covered parking garages for short term parking: P1 is by the Departures Hall and P2 is by the Arrivals Hall. P3 is reserved for long term parking and is further away. A shuttle bus brings you to the terminals.

Services

Hotels

The airport does not have any hotels. The nearest hotels are Radisson SAS Hotel Lisboa (tel: +351(0)2 004 5000) and the Holiday Inn Lisbon (tel: +351(0)2 004 4000). For more hotels and reserving online you can go to Booking.com. They have a large offering of hotels with great internet rates. For more information we refer to our own page about hotels in Lisbon.

Shops and restaurants

There is a reasonable amount of choices of shops and restaurants. The duty free section is not that big. There are vending machines with soda, chocolates and candy in various places throughout the airport. After customs in the Departures Hall is a Harrods Café!

Baggage

The baggage handling sometimes goes slow. The counter for found objects can be found at the police station in the Arrivals Hall (tel: +351 (0)21 849 6132).

Information

There are information counters in the Arrivals Hall as well as the Departures Hall. Furthermore, there is a special tourist counter in the Departures Hall where you can get help reserving a hotel room and arranging transportation.

Business

In the Arrivals Hall is one lounge: the Ícaro Lounge. After customs in the Departures Hall there are two lounges: the Apolo Lounge and the Ulisses Lounge. All lounges have internet, telephone, and fax capabilities. Furthermore, various airlines have their own lounges. The Lisbon Airport Public Relations Service (tel: +351(0)21 841 3500) offers assistance for organizing assemblies, conferences or press conferences.

Handicapped persons

Portela Airport has extensive facilities for handicapped persons. There are wheelchair ramps and adapted elevators, restrooms, and telephones. There are separate parking places reserved for handicapped persons by the terminals.

Other services

The airport has a First Help station (Arrivals Hall) and rooms for tending to babies. By the gates in the Departures Hall are showers, which are not that cheap (almost € 13.00). Cash machines can be found throughout the airport and money exchange offices are also in the Arrivals Hall and Departures Hall.

Field trips

The airport takes care of field trips for kids from six to 15 years old. The guided tour lasts approximately one and a half hours for a group of 30 children at most. More information can be found with Lisbon Airport Passenger Service (tel: +351 (0)218 413 500).

Contact

Address

Lisbon Portela Airport
Alameda das Comunidades Portuguesas
1700-007 Lisbon
Portugal

Telephone, fax, email

Telephone: +351(0)21 841 3500
Fax: +351(0)21 841 3675
Email: lisbon.airport@ana-aeroportos.pt

Airport codes

IATA airport code: LIS
ICAO airport code: LPPT