Lisbon, Dec. 31, 2025 (Lusa) - Lisbon airport will be bolstered by 10 military personnel from the Portuguese National Republican Guard who will begin work on Saturday, after receiving basic training on Friday, a police source told Lusa on Wednesday.
According to the same source, the military personnel will be stationed in the arrivals area to carry out passport control.
On Tuesday, the Government announced the immediate reinforcement with military personnel from the National Republican Guard as a contingency measure at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon to reduce waiting times in the arrivals area.
Another measure to reduce queues was the immediate suspension of the European border control system for non-EU citizens, known as the European Union's Entry/Exit System (EES), for three months at Lisbon airport. The European Commission has already said it will ask Portugal for "more details" about this interruption.
Lisbon airport did not experience any disruption this Wednesday morning, but a police source told Lusa that waiting times in the arrivals area are likely to increase in the early afternoon, as five flights from Brazil with 1,200 passengers were delayed for some time.
Lisbon airport had already been reinforced with 80 Public Security Police officers during the Christmas and New Year period due to long waiting times at border control.
The new European border control system for non-EU citizens came into force on 12 October in Portugal and other Schengen countries, and since then waiting times have worsened, particularly at Lisbon airport, with passengers sometimes having to wait several hours.
This situation led the government to set up an emergency task force at the end of October to manage the crisis.
Since 10 December, the second phase of the new European border control system for non-EU citizens has been underway with the collection of biometric data, which consists of obtaining photographs and fingerprints of passengers, further complicating the situation.
With the suspension of the EU Entry/Exit computer system, passengers outside the Schengen area - who do not belong to the European area of free movement of persons and goods and who need to pass through border controls - are once again being controlled by the old system, which involves reading the passport and, often, manually stamping it to record entry/exit, with officers checking the identity and length of stay.
In a response sent to Lusa, the Public Security Police, which took over passenger control at airport borders from the Foreigners and Borders Service in 2023, states that it "has been operating at virtually maximum capacity in border control", admitting that "at certain times, the waiting time, due to various factors, is not desirable".
The police force emphasises that Lisbon airport management "only provides" 16 service counters in arrivals and 14 in departures, in addition to the “e-gates” (technological gates for biometric reading).
For its part, the airport manager ANA claims that the queues are due to a lack of human resources, adequate planning and stability in the e-gates (technological gates for biometric reading), arguing that this is evident to passengers, who are faced with closed booths and e-gates that are switched off.
The Internal Security System (SSI) had already said that the EU Entry/Exit System could be suspended during Christmas to avoid queues at airports.
The leader of the National Union of Police Officers (SNOP), Bruno Pereira, considered that this decision weakens national security, arguing that it is "a concession by the Government to economic interests" and "kicking the problem into the long grass" (i.e procrastinating).
The leader of the union representing the majority of Public Security Police officers also argued that this is "a step backwards from a measure decided by the European Union" and said that the deadlines in Portugal will not be met, as this system must be 100% operational throughout the EU by April.
CMP/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
