Coimbra, Portugal, May 19, 2026 (Lusa) - Portugal’s infrastructure and housing minister has announced that service improvements at Lisbon Airport will take effect next month, following the completion of expansion work in the arrivals area.
When questioned on Monday about border control delays at Portuguese airports, Miguel Pinto Luz said that the government "is making every effort, internally and alongside the European Commission, to resolve the issue."
He said that ongoing work at Lisbon Airport is nearing completion "to expand the arrivals area."
"That is what we are working on, and we believe that in the coming weeks, next month, we can have a better quality of service," he said.
Pinto Luz acknowledged that the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) "has real problems that are creating constraints" at airports and damaging "Portugal's international image".
"We are available [...] to suspend biometrics whenever necessary because there is a basic principle. We cannot compromise the service provided by airports, we cannot compromise the image of the country, and therefore, whenever necessary and congestion occurs, or machines or servers are not working, biometrics will be suspended," he said.
Border control at Porto Airport recorded wait times exceeding two hours, acknowledged the Public Security Police (PSP), which nevertheless denied reports of six-hour delays.
The maximum wait time on Sunday "with peak wait times between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., was never more than 100 minutes in Faro, 110 minutes in Lisbon, and 130 minutes in Porto."
In a statement released on Sunday night, the PSP attributed the delays to technical and IT issues combined with "a high volume of passengers from outside the Schengen Area."
The police said that the three airports processed approximately 69,000 non-Schengen passengers.
Portugal's Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, expressed on Monday dissatisfaction with border control operations due to the long queues and announced that he would consider suspending biometric data collection if the situation persists.
"I do not hide that we [the government] are dissatisfied with the response provided by the border services at airports, particularly in Lisbon. We will take this effort to the absolute limit to overcome the situation," he said.
JGA/RYOL // AYLS
Lusa
