Relief may soon be on the horizon for travellers frustrated by long border control lines at Portuguese airports
Portugal‘s Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, said on Tuesday that the long queues which have been driving passengers crazy at Lisbon and Faro airports should be “resolved within two weeks”.
“Just this Tuesday, new Entry and Exit System machines went live in Faro,” the minister told journalists, noting that the long-awaited automation system – designed to speed up border control across the EU – is finally coming online in Portugal.
The minister acknowledged that Portugal had been “very delayed” in implementing the system but stressed that recent investments in new servers and automated gates would allow operations to “tendentially return to normal” within a fortnight.
The system will mainly benefit EU citizens by streamlining passport checks, freeing border police to focus on non-Schengen travellers who require manual processing. “These investments will give our officers more time to focus where they’re most needed,” Pinto Luz explained.
Images of long lines – some stretching over several hours – have recently circulated from both Lisbon and Faro, particularly affecting non-EU passengers. The strain has not gone unnoticed by airport staff. Last month, the Police Union (ASPP/PSP) warned of growing exhaustion among border control agents and urged the government to act quickly ahead of the summer travel rush.
To tackle the issue, a reinforcement of 500 border police was announced last week.
