"Lisbon Portela Airport, also known as Lisbon Airport (IATA: LIS, ICAO: LPPT), is an international airport located in the city of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. In Portuguese, it is called Aeroporto de Lisboa, Aeroporto da Portela, or Aeroporto da Portela de Sacavém. It takes its name from the neighbouring parish (freguesia) of Portela in Loures Municipality, formerly known as Portela de Sacavém.
The airport is the main international gateway to Portugal and a major European hub. It is one of the largest and best equipped airports in Western Europe for maintenance, navigation and air traffic control, and passenger service, having been nominated as Europe's Leading Airport for five consecutive years in the World Travel Awards. In 2013, the airport handled 16,024,955 passengers and 88,459 tonnes of cargo.
The airport is the main hub of TAP Portugal and its subsidiary Portugália, a focus city for easyJet, Ryanair and SATA International and also the base for charter airlines euroAtlantic Airways, Hi Fly and White Airways. The airport is run by ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal which has been concessioned to the French group Vinci Airports in February 2013.
History
The airport opened on 15 October 1942 during the Second World War. As a neutral airport it was open to both German and British airlines, it was a hub for smuggling people into, out of and all around Europe, as widely referenced in the classic film Casablanca, whose plot revolved around an escape attempt to Lisbon airport. As such, it was heavily monitored by both Axis and Allied spies. Although Portugal was neutral, the airport was used by allied flights en route to Gibraltar, North Africa and Cairo.
At the end of the war the airport developed quickly and by 1946 was used by major airlines like Air France, British European Airways, Iberia, KLM, Sabena, Pan Am and Trans World Airlines and by 1954 the number of passengers had reached 100,000.
A 1951–52 airport diagram shows four runways at 45-deg angles: 1350-m runway 5, 1024-m rwy 9, 1203-m rwy 14, and 1170-m rwy 18. Runways 5 and 36 were each being extended northward to become 1999 m.
A major upgrade in 1959–62 included a new runway capable of taking the first generation jets, Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. The first jet aircraft movement was an Air France Caravelle in 1960. In 1962 runway 03/21 came into use, it was 3,130 m (10,270 ft) and would allow direct transatlantic flights. The first direct flight to New York was operated by a TWA Boeing 707 who also operated the first Boeing 747 service in 1970. When TAP ordered the 747, five large parking bays were built in 1972 and the terminal was enlarged. A major upgrade to the buildings and facilities was started in 1983 and the first air bridges were added in 1991.
Along with the airports in Beja, Porto, Faro, Flores, Santa Maria, Ponta Delgada and Horta, the airport's concessions to provide support to civil aviation was conceded to ANA Aeroportos de Portugal on 18 December 1998, under provisions of decree 404/98. With this concession, ANA was also provided to the planning, development and construction of future infrastructures."
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