An official source from the Public Security Police told Lusa that “there is a technical difficulty in the border control system”, which is not the responsibility of the PSP, and is causing queues at Lisbon airport since Monday, reaching a peak waiting time of over three hours.

Contacted by Lusa, ANA Aeroportos de Portugal confirmed “high waiting times at border control at Humberto Delgado Airport, reaching a maximum of three hours today”.

ANA assured that it “has been collaborating with the authorities responsible for border control and supporting passengers, to mitigate, within its reach, the regrettable constraints, namely through the distribution of water and food”. The Portuguese Public Security Police (PSP) also reports that Lisbon airport is at “maximum capacity,” with all border posts staffed by police officers.

The new European border control system for non-EU citizens came into operation on October 12th in Portugal and the remaining Schengen Area countries, and since then waiting times have worsened, particularly at Lisbon airport, with passengers sometimes having to wait for several hours.

This situation recently led the Government to create an emergency task force to manage this crisis.

The Internal Security System (SSI) has already admitted that the Entry/Exit System (EES) may be suspended during Christmas to avoid queues at airports, a measure already authorized by the European Commission, a decision that “will be taken according to the information received from Portuguese airports.”

The Portuguese Border Security Service (SSI) assured that the decision to suspend or not the application of the Emergency Security System (EES) will be taken "on a case-by-case basis and, if necessary, based on an assessment of the situation at each airport and without compromising border security."

"If there is no need to suspend the EES, it means that there are no excessive waiting times to cross the border," the agency stated.

Assessment

A team from the European Commission has been in Lisbon since Monday and will continue until Wednesday to conduct an "unannounced" assessment of security conditions at Portuguese air and sea borders.

According to the SSI, this "unannounced" assessment by the European Commission focuses particularly on the border posts at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon and the port of Lisbon, as well as coordination structures.

The Minister of Internal Administration will be in parliament this afternoon, at the request of the Socialist Party (PS), to discuss the long queues at border control in Portuguese airports, the measures adopted, and the expected timeframes for their resolution.