Lisbon, Oct. 28, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Hotel Association has warned the government of a possible “breakdown” at Lisbon airport due to the impact of the new European Entry/Exit System (EES).
In a letter to the Prime Minister and the Ministers of the Economy and Territorial Cohesion, Infrastructure and Housing and Interior, entitled “Portugal cannot be held hostage by its border”, the hotel association (AHP) management expresses “its deep concern about the situation at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon (and, to a lesser extent, also in Faro) since the new European Entry/Exit System (EES) came into force”.
Speaking to Lusa on Monday, Bernardo Trindade, president of the AHP, lamented the situation at the country’s main airport infrastructure.
“The situation today at Lisbon airport is far from satisfactory and the Portuguese state, which is not the state of this government or the state of the previous government, is the state that, overall, has failed and fails on a daily basis” in “timely border control, generating endless queues, failing in security, failing in its role as a concessionaire under a concession contract and, above all, failing to take care of Portugal’s image,” he said.
"Our appeal, our open letter, which is, above all, a sincere appeal, is that the conditions be created so that this airport infrastructure is not, in fact, a terrible gateway for those who want to visit Portugal," said the association’s leader.
In the letter, the AHP said that “this system, which is mandatory at all external borders of the Schengen Area, introduces more time-consuming and technologically demanding procedures, including the collection and biometric registration of third-country nationals,” he recalled, pointing out that “the lack of adequate human and technical resources for its implementation in Portugal is causing unacceptable delays in arrivals and departures, with severe impacts on airport operations, the country’s image and the confidence of travellers”.
According to the AHP, Lisbon airport, “which has long been operating at overload”, is now in a “state of serious dysfunction”.
For the association, "the endless queues that are now seen at border controls, both on arrival and departure" are the "predictable and regrettable consequence of an implementation model without sufficient resources or effective coordination".
The AHP points to "multiple" consequences, such as "the loss of air connections and direct risk to the TAP hub, whose viability depends on the fluidity of connection times", delays “cascading" in both departures and arrivals, "saturation of baggage carousels and ground operations" as well as a "worrying deterioration" in the visitor experience.
The association points out that tourism accounts for “around 12% of national GDP and the Lisbon region is responsible for more than a quarter of the country’s tourist demand”, warning of the “risk” of destroying, “through administrative inefficiency, one of the main sources of economic growth and international prestige” for the country.
"And the situation is all the more serious as this is only the first phase of the EES," it points out, noting that in December "a more demanding stage will begin, with mandatory biometric collection at self-service kiosks for around 35% of international passengers".
In the letter, the AHP warned that “if human and technical resources are not quickly reinforced, the system will collapse in the face of the foreseeable increase in complexity and volume”, indicating that “beyond the aforementioned impact on the country’s economy and image, this collapse will generate, among other victims, the Portuguese citizens themselves who necessarily use the airport, namely those of the new generation of the diaspora”.
The association proposes the immediate reinforcement of police personnel assigned to border control and adequate planning for periods of increased traffic, the immediate repair/activation of eGates and RAPID machines, and the “public definition of maximum acceptable waiting times for passengers from third countries and regular monitoring of results”.
The AHP also wants the “approval of a national contingency plan for traffic peaks, with temporary reinforcements and additional posts when necessary” and “transparent communication with passengers and tour operators”, coordinated with the Portuguese Tourism Authority, as well as the “continuous evaluation of the implementation of the EES”, including a “quarterly report from the airports managing company, ANA, to the Government (and available to the public) on the status of implementation, number of active posts, number of passengers processed, average and percentile of waiting times, technical failures recorded and correction plan”.
ALN/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
