NAV Portugal inaugurates Cascais Control Tower

NAV Portugal and Cascais Municipal Council inaugurated the new Control Tower at Cascais Airport this Wednesday, October 21^st, at a ceremony chaired by the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo, and attended by the Mayor of Cascais, Nuno Piteira Lopes, and the Chair of NAV Portugal’s Board of Directors, Pedro Ângelo.

Built by Cascais Municipal Council and equipped by NAV Portugal, the new tower replaces an ageing facility whose limited space was already making it difficult to install new equipment.

NAV Portugal invested €5.4 million in installing and integrating new air traffic management systems and technical equipment in the new facility, replicating and enhancing the functions currently available. The new systems include ATIS, which automatically transmits operational information to aircraft, and TWRATM, NAV Portugal’s system for managing flight plans in control towers.

Standing 28.5 metres tall, the new building provides a wider view of the facility and its operational surroundings, with improved visibility of the aerodrome’s entire runway manoeuvring area. This improves air traffic controllers’ situational awareness and creates better conditions for more efficient traffic management.

The new facility also includes radio and radar contingency systems, as well as an additional working position, fully equipped to take over any of the Cascais Control Tower’s operational functions if required. These solutions strengthen the operation’s redundancy and resilience.

The tower has also been designed to accommodate new systems and adapt to future airspace configurations, keeping pace with technological and operational developments in air traffic management.

In addition to its technological features, the building improves working conditions for NAV Portugal’s teams. The new facilities include more ergonomic operational positions, a rest room, a training room and other spaces for meetings.

The new Cascais Control Tower is the first in a new generation of NAV Portugal control towers, designed to meet current technological, operational and personnel requirements. It is part of a modernisation plan that also includes new facilities in Lisbon and Madeira.

The inauguration comes amid growth in business aviation in Cascais, reinforcing the aerodrome’s role in the Lisbon region’s airport system. In 2025, it recorded 2,573 movements in this segment—the highest figure on record and twice the number recorded in 2019.

“The construction of the new control tower represents a significant investment in the modernisation of Cascais Aerodrome. As a municipal authority, we have a responsibility to ensure that this infrastructure has good operating conditions, and that is what we have sought to achieve with this project, in collaboration with NAV Portugal. It demonstrates the importance of organisations working together to deliver improvements that enhance the aerodrome’s quality, efficiency and ability to meet current needs,” said the Mayor of Cascais, Nuno Piteira Lopes.

“The new Cascais Control Tower represents a significant investment in safety, technological modernisation and the working conditions of our teams. It meets current operational requirements and has also been designed to adapt to future developments. It is the first in a new generation of NAV Portugal control towers and a visible sign of the broader transformation we are undertaking across different areas of air traffic management.” said Pedro Ângelo, Chair of NAV Portugal’s Board of Directors.

NAV Portugal is completing the validation of the systems and preparing its teams for the transition. The new tower will enter full operation once this process is complete and all the necessary technical and operational conditions have been confirmed.