Passengers departing Lisbon, Porto and Faro faced long waits at the weekend
On Monday Luís Montenegro said the government would suspend the Entry/Exit System to reduce wait times forSome passengers complained online that they faced waits of up it ‘six hours’, however PSP police, who manage the airport’s borders rejected these claims,to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter According to the PSP’s official data, the maximum waiting time in Faro “never exceeded 100 minutes”, while in Lisbon it was “110 minutes and 130 minutes in Porto”.
A statement released by the PSP said the long waits were caused by “delays to technical and IT issues” and a “high volume of passengers from outside the Schengen Area”. The EES requires third-country nationals, including Brits, to provide their biometric data, including a photograph and fingerprints, to create a digital record. This will be valid for three years and will replace passport stamping.
When asked about the long wait times during a visit to Caminha, Prime Minister Montenegro said: “I won’t deny that we are unhappy with the response from border control services at the airports, especially in Lisbon. ” He added: “If we have to take stronger action – more severe measures – we will do so.
We do not want to put the country’s security at risk, but we also do not want to damage the country’s economic activity,”The EU does allow member states to temporarily lift the EES for up to six hours if wait times become excessive. The Portuguese prime minister hinted at this loophole, saying: “We have European obligations and we are fulfilling them, but obviously we cannot be penalised.
We will prioritise security in the country, but at the same time we must safeguard Portugal’s economic interests”. He admitted that the collection of biometric data could be paused, “like we have done in the past”. Mr Montenegro added that more officers are being trained up for border control duties and that they are “making major investments in equipment”.
Since the EES was officially launched on April 10, British travellers have faced lengthy waits at European airports due to the additional checks required. In some cases passengers have even missed their flights as they have been stuck waiting at passport control, which was the case for around 100 passengers flying from Milan to Manchester last month.
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