Monday, 4 June 2012

Passage To Lisbon

The capital and the largest city of Portugal, Lisbon is located in the westernmost area of Europe. The city is known to be a growing financial center as well as largest container port on the Atlantic coast of Europe. The destination is the seventh most visited place in the South of Europe. As the culture, arts, architecture, entertainment and many other aspects have made the destination highly popular, more and more people are planning to visit it. Cheap flight tickets to this beautiful destination are easily available. Visitors just need to check the best possible airfares and plan a perfect vacation to this city.

Statue of the Marques Do Pombell in the Centre of Praca Comercio, Lisbon

Also referred to as Lisbon Airport, Lisbon Portela Airport is the international airport located in the city and serving nearby areas. The IATA code of this airport is LIS. It is located about 7 km away from the north of Castle of São Jorge, Lisbon. The name of the airport is based on Portela de Sacavém, the neighboring parish of Portela. Acting as a major hub of Europe, the airport is the main global gateway to Portugal. In whole of South Europe, it is one of the largest airports. There are two main runways at the airport that have the capacity to accommodate large size aircraft. The airport was open to both British as well as German airlines during the Second World War.

The number of passengers being handled by the airport increased considerably with passage of time. 14, 035, 273 passengers were handled by the airport in the year 2010. For TAP Portugal, easyJet, euroAtlantic Airways, Portugalia, SATA International, White Airways, Hi Fly and Luzair, the airport acts as a main hub. Aeroportos de Portugal owns this airport. Due to the growing popularity of the destination, the number of flights to Lisbon has increased significantly.  
Statue of King José I, Lisbon, Portugal.

The airport is located nestled amidst the city as lot of development has taken place surrounding the airport. A need to construct a new airport was increasingly felt. Several options were discussed for the same. To keep up with the increasing growth in traffic, an expansion plan was announced by ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal for some airport structures in the year 2006. The new airport is expected to be ready by the year 2017.

As per the plan, construction of Terminal 2 was carried out that concluded in August 2007. Simultaneously, new boarding gates, expansion of the current terminal, new parking lots, new air bridges and most importantly, construction of a new metro (underground) station are underway.

Terminal 1 is used for international flights whereas domestic flights land and take off at Terminal 2. Exclusively using Terminal 2, EasyJet announced that it will open a new hub at the airport. Hence it was decided in 2012 that Terminal 2 will be used as a low cost airline terminal. Cheap flights to Lisbon has made it possible for many budget travelers to enjoy vacation at this wonderful location. Since cheap tickets to Lisbon are easily available, more and more budget travelers are choosing this city as their next vacation destination.

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