The spokesperson for the National Republican Guard (GNR), Carlos Canatário, told Lusa that the 24 GNR officers will work from next Tuesday in "flexible shifts" composed of teams of 10 members plus a supervisor.

According to the GNR spokesperson, these officers will work in the arrivals area to control documentation.

The 24 GNR officers have certified training in border control, but on Friday and Monday, they will receive "purely administrative" training from the PSP, the National Civil Aviation Authority (ANAC), and ANA, according to the corporation, which does not know how long the officers will remain at Lisbon airport.

The clarification from the GNR comes after Lusa reported, citing a police source, that Lisbon airport would be reinforced with 10 GNR officers who would start working on January 3rd, after receiving "slight training".

Reducing waiting times

The Government announced the immediate reinforcement with GNR officers 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, called the Entry/Exit System (EES) of the European Union, for three months at Lisbon airport, and the European Commission has already stated that it will ask Portugal for "more details" about this interruption.

Previous reinforcement

Lisbon airport had already been reinforced with 80 PSP officers during the Christmas and New Year period due to long waiting times.

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

This situation led the Government to create an emergency 'task force' at the end of October to manage the crisis situation.

Since December 10, the second phase has been underway with the collection of biometric data, which consists of obtaining the passenger's photograph and fingerprints, which has further complicated the situation.

With the suspension of the EES computer system, passengers from outside the Schengen Area - who do not belong to the European area of ​​free movement of people and goods and who need to go through border control - are once again controlled by the old system, which involves reading the passport and, often, a manual stamp to register entry/exit, with agents verifying identity and length of stay.

Maximum Capacity

In a response sent to Lusa, the PSP (Public Security Police), which inherited passenger control at airport borders from the Foreigners and Borders Service in 2023, says that "it has been practically at maximum capacity in border control," admitting that "at certain times, the waiting time, due to various factors, is not desirable."

The PSP emphasizes that "only 16 service counters are made available" by the Lisbon airport management company in arrivals and 14 in departures, in addition to the 'e-gates' (technological gates for biometric reading).

In turn, the airport management company ANA claims that the queues are due to the lack of human resources, adequate planning, and stability in the 'e-gates' (technological gates for biometric reading), arguing that this is visible to passengers, who are confronted with closed booths and switched-off 'e-gates'.