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AN airport in Europe is set to finally get a huge new airport – after being delayed for DECADES.

The Luís de Camões Airport has been in development for years and is set to serve the capital of Portugal, eventually.

Believe it or not, the potential of building a new airport near Lisbon has been on the cards since the mid-1960s.

During that time it was realised that it would be almost impossible to expand Lisbon Airport – known at the time as Portela Airport which opened in 1942.

So plans were made to build a second airport which would eventually serve Lisbon called Luís de Camões Airport.

It would open in Alcochete which is across the Tagus River from Lisbon and would be a 50-minute drive from the city.

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There have been many proposals year-on-year about the airport, and recently more changes have been made to the plans.

As reported in The Portugal News, there have been new talks to discuss issues such as the ‘size of the runways, the separation between them, and the contact positions’.

Designs of the airport feature two runways in its initial phase, with construction expected to begin around 2030–2031.

In the future there would be potential to expand with another two runways taking the total up to four in order to handle up to 100 million passengers by 2050.

It’s estimated that the cost to build Luís de Camões Airport will be €9billion (£7.7billion).

Currently, Lisbon’s main airport, Humberto Delgado Airport, has two runways and sees more than 35 million passengers per year.

This makes it one of the largest airports in Europe when it comes to the amount of passengers.

It’s also one of the only major airports that has an approach path directly over the city.

Eventually when Luís de Camões Airport opens, the one in the heart of Lisbon will close completely.

With discussions still being made about the airport, work is yet to start however operations are estimated to begin in 2034 – and it has come to the attention of officials too.

Carlos Mineiro Alves, executive director of the Portuguese Construction Foundation said: “We cannot have a country that is lagging behind. We have already lost a lot of time on fundamental issues such as the new Lisbon airport and the high-speed railway.”

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Santagiulia is due to host many of the biggest ice hockey fixtures at the Games, including the men’s and women’s gold medal matches.

The first match is due to be held there on Thursday, 5 February, when hosts Italy face France in their first game of the women’s competition.

However, the stadium, less than a week before that game, is far from ready to host matches.

The stadium has been the centre of concerns throughout the build-up to the Games, including resulting in a boycott warning from the National Hockey League (NHL).

The rink in Milan, approved by the International Ice Hockey Federation, is shorter than the minimum requirement in the NHL, leading to suggestions there could be an increase in high-speed collisions. The quality of the ice has also been questioned.

“Obviously, if the players feel that the ice is unsafe, we’re not going to play,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in November. “It’s as simple as that.”

The NHL said it was “pleased” with the test event at the arena in January, although that did not pass without incident. During the event there was a short delay while a small hole in the ice had to be repaired.

Santagiulia is one of two ice hockey venues for the Games, with the Milano Rho Arena staging some group-stage matches.

The Rho Arena, a temporary venue constructed in the Fiera Milano exhibition centre, has a capacity of 5,800 – 6,000 fewer than Santagiulia.

BBC Sport visited all four venues in the Milan Cluster which will host events during the Games, which officially run between 6 and 22 February.

As well as the ice hockey venues, speed skating will take place at a temporary venue in Fiera Milano to the west of the city, while short track and figure skating are at Unipol Forum on the southern outskirts.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been contacted for comment.