At least 30 air connections are cancelled daily at Lisbon-Portela's "Humberto Delgado" airport. Over the last week-end, more than a hundred were cancelled, including flights to London, the Azores islands, Oslo and Seville. A phenomenon that also worries national politics. So much so that the Lisbon Parliament summoned the top management of Aeroportos de Portugal (ANA). 

The Portuguese airport management company, part of the French Aviation Group Vinci, admitted the disruptions that are occurring at the airport and causing inconvenience to passengers and airlines operating at the Lisbon airport. The chairman of the board of directors, José Luís Arnaut, and the executive chairman, Thierry Ligonnière, were present at the hearing. 

According to the ranking by the German specialized website "AirHelp", the Portuguese capital's airport is the worst on the list of 132 airports screened worldwide. The Portuguese capital's airport has been at the center of political debate for years because of its inadequacy, but also because of the inability shown by several generations of politicians to identify the most suitable site for the construction of a viable alternative both financially and environmentally. 

The bursting of the wheels of an airplane's undercarriage was behind the airport's closure for several hours last Friday. But constant delays are mainly caused by staff shortages, strikes by low-cost workers, and chaos at European airports.