Lisbon, May 19, 2026 (Lusa) – Lisbon airport will have more manual border control booths from 29 May to strengthen operational response and reduce waiting times, the interior ministry (MAI) has announced.
The ministry announced the measures in a note sent to the Lusa news agency on Monday after border control once again recorded waiting times exceeding one hour. MAI plans to increase the number of e-gates (automated border control) and will deploy additional Public Security Police (PSP) officers to border control starting in July.
Constraints at Portugal's airports, particularly at Lisbon, result from a combination of factors. These include occasional IT system failures, ongoing construction work in some operational areas, and a high volume of passengers arriving within short periods, MAI stated.
Ryanair appealed to Portugal's government on 8 May to suspend the implementation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) until September. The system controls passengers from outside the Schengen area, and the airline sought to prevent disruptions at airports during the peak summer season.
The government refused on Monday to suspend the EES during the summer, though it acknowledged that biometric data collection could be halted for limited periods.
Portugal began implementing the EES on 12 October 2025 and "maintains its commitment to ensure its operation in compliance with EU law, with no suspension of this system currently planned," MAI said.
Nevertheless, “the applicable European framework allows, in exceptional and strictly limited circumstances, for the adoption of operational measures, such as the suspension of biometric data collection (facial images and fingerprints), at certain border crossing points, when high traffic volumes could lead to excessive waiting times.”
Border control recorded waiting times exceeding two hours at Porto airport and an hour and a half at Lisbon and Faro airports on Sunday morning. The PSP attributed the delays to technical and IT issues combined with a high volume of passengers from outside the Schengen area.
Technical and IT difficulties also caused delays of over an hour at Lisbon airport departures passport control on Saturday.
The PSP previously suspended biometric data collection at Lisbon, Porto, and Faro airport departures on 11 and 12 April because waiting times exceeded desirable limits for boarding passengers.
The EES replaced passport stamping with the digital registration of non-EU passengers' photographs and fingerprints. The system entered into service progressively on 12 October 2025 in Portugal and the remaining Schengen area countries. Since then, waiting times have worsened, particularly at Lisbon airport.
ARA/RYOL // AYLS
Lusa
