About

Widely respected across the aviation industry of Portugal, Maria José Viegas is one of the most qualified aviation lawyers in the country. She joined ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, the Airport Authority of Portugal, in 1998, without prior knowledge of the specifics of the industry. Following the division of ANA into two different entities and pursuant to the Commission’s third airport package, in 1999, Portugal published important legislation on aviation. This changed Viegas’ role considerably as the legislation had a great impact on national airports. ‘I had the opportunity to participate in conferences representing ANA, to publish articles and books about this topic, to teach and to represent the company in important proceedings’ she comments. In 2009 she was promoted to senior manager of ANA’s legal department. Two years later, she decided to pursue an MA in air and space law from Leiden University in the Netherlands, an academic qualification only a handful of lawyers have in Portugal. She admits that was one the most challenging periods of her career: ‘Organising all that academic work along with my work in the company was very complicated. I had to be very organised and to work non-stop, which means I hardly slept during those two years. Completing my Master’s degree under my professional conditions was, by far, my biggest challenge. I was pushed to the limit from an intellectual and a physical point of view’. During her time as a senior legal manager in ANA, Viegas has invested a lot of energy in educating the legal team. To that end, she regularly organises conferences and conversations with representatives of the Portuguese civil society and weekly meetings with the legal team to discuss ongoing work. She also encourages the provision of academic education, such as short-term courses and attendance of aviation conferences. Viegas is the author of the first book on aviation law in Portugal, which she considers an important milestone in her career so far.