"The impact on air traffic had the greatest impact at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon, with 348 flights cancelled and 66,000 passengers affected", reads a note released by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing.

At Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto, "60 flights were cancelled and 7,000 passengers affected", and at Gago Coutinho Airport in Faro, 29 flights were cancelled and more than 5,000 passengers were affected.

"The impact on the island airports was minor", it highlighted.

According to the regulator, "NAV, the air traffic services manager, did not interrupt the provision of services at any time and ANA, the airport infrastructure manager, scrupulously complied with all its obligations".

ANAC recommends reviewing contracts with telecommunications service providers and "drawing up specific contingency plans for power and communication failures applicable to all airports, airlines and air traffic control, ground handling companies and suppliers of on-board and airport supplies".

It also argues that it is necessary to foresee, in a future renegotiation of concession contracts, "the inclusion of the recommendations found".

For ANAC, it is also necessary to "carry out joint simulations of the various airport stakeholders for technological and energy failures", as well as "prioritising electrical power from sources that do not depend on fuel".

Training

The regulator also highlighted the need for "continuous training of human resources focusing on technological and energy failures" and the implementation of "awareness-raising and passenger information campaigns on what to do in the event of an energy or technological failure".

The Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing received the reports requested from the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), the National Communications Authority (ANACOM) and the Institute of Mobility and Transport (IMT) on the impact of the blackout.

These reports provide an "analysis of the impact of the general interruption of the electricity supply in each of the three sectors" and list "a set of recommendations and measures, some to be implemented in the short term, others of a structural nature, with the common objective of improving the response to crisis scenarios".