Long queues at Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport have triggered a bitter dispute over how fast travellers should be processed, with Portuguese police unions warning that government and commercial pressure to cut waiting times is pushing officers to use stripped‑down border checks that skip vital security databases.

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Queues grow as new EU border rules take hold

The latest tensions come less than two months after Portugal switched on the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) for non‑EU nationals on 12 October 2025, adding biometric registration and electronic records of every crossing on top of traditional passport checks. Police and airport managers acknowledge that the extra steps have lengthened processing times for third‑country travellers.

Within days of the rollout, Public Security Police (PSP) officials described one mid‑October day at Lisbon Airport as “critical”, as non‑EU passengers faced waits of more than 90 minutes at both arrivals and departures. Similar scenes were reported across other major Portuguese gateways, including Faro, prompting airlines to warn customers to expect long queues at passport control.

Portugal’s Internal Security System, which coordinates border policy, has stressed that the EES is functioning as planned but requires an “adaptation period” because it multiplies the number of database queries and technical checks at the frontier. Officials say almost one million passengers have already been registered under the new regime, making Portugal one of the EU’s most intensive early users of EES.

Infrastructure minister Miguel Pinto Luz has admitted in parliament that the queues at Lisbon’s border posts are causing “reputational damage” for the country, while insisting that more police officers, better equipment and a permanent flow‑management team will stabilise the situation in the coming months.

Police unions warn of ‘simplified’ checks and security risks

Amid the operational strain, police unions say a more serious danger is emerging behind the scenes. The main PSP union, ASPP, and a union representing Judiciary Police (PJ) inspectors argue that officers at Lisbon are being told to rely on a “Simplified System” whenever queues spike, particularly at peak morning and late‑afternoon waves of flights.

Under this simplified procedure, officers confirm that a passport is valid and belongs to the traveller but do not systematically enter the document into national and international watch‑list databases. The unions say the tool was designed for departures and rare arrival emergencies, such as IT blackouts, yet has become a routine way to push passengers through more quickly when lines threaten to spill into the terminal.

Ricardo Jesus, head of the PJ inspectors’ union and a veteran border officer, has warned that in these circumstances “citizens who are under arrest or wanted by the authorities can be passed through” unnoticed. The unions accuse the government of sending mixed messages by publicly prioritising immigration control while privately signalling that long queues are politically unacceptable.

Union leaders point to a case in August in which a man suspected of committing a homicide hours earlier in Porto almost boarded an international flight at Lisbon. According to their account, simplified checks were in force and the suspect was stopped only because an officer noticed his behaviour, then manually checked police databases and found an alert. For airport officers, the incident is a stark example of the risks they say are built into the current approach.

Airport operator and government push back

The unions have also accused Lisbon’s airport operator, ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, of lobbying for lighter controls to protect the airport’s image and commercial performance. ASPP claims ANA has pressed both the government and PSP leadership to ease border checks in order to shorten waits that have at times stretched beyond two hours at arrivals and close to four hours on peak days.

ANA has “categorically” denied exerting such pressure. The company says border control is the exclusive responsibility of the state and argues that its only demand is that police and government agencies respect maximum queuing‑time targets similar to service levels required of the operator itself. Airport management has repeatedly highlighted the frustration of passengers forced to stand in line for hours after long‑haul flights.

Government figures have oscillated between promising swift fixes and acknowledging deeper problems. In June, Pinto Luz predicted that new servers and additional automatic gates would clear the worst queues at Lisbon and Faro “in two weeks”, freeing officers to focus on higher‑risk travellers. By late October and November, however, officials were openly conceding that staff shortages, technological glitches and the complexity of the EES had made those targets harder to meet, even as a special task force was created to manage the crisis.

On 9 December, the Internal Security System went further, confirming that Portugal now has approval from the European Commission to suspend application of the EES during the Christmas peak if necessary. Any suspension, it said, would be decided airport by airport and “without compromising border security”, reflecting the political tightrope between protecting the Schengen area and avoiding a holiday‑season meltdown.

A crowded hub with structural constraints

For unions and many aviation analysts, Lisbon’s border woes cannot be divorced from the broader strain on Humberto Delgado Airport, a hub that has long operated beyond its intended capacity. The airport was designed for around 22 million passengers a year but handled more than 35 million in 2024, according to its owner, French group VINCI. Morning bank periods, when transatlantic arrivals overlap with departures to destinations requiring full checks, are especially acute.

ASPP argues that even significant staff reinforcements will not be enough if the physical layout of border facilities does not change. At present, roughly 300 PSP officers and about 35 PJ inspectors rotate through border control duties at Lisbon. Terminal 1 has a limited number of manual booths and RAPID e‑gates for arrivals and departures, while Terminal 2 has just one small exit border. The government recently extended the PJ inspectors’ temporary assignment at airports until April 2026, a decision unions say was communicated only days before many were due to return to their core investigative roles.

Beyond capacity, officers have complained of deteriorating working conditions inside the airport’s security and border division. In September, ASPP released photographs showing rats, exposed wiring and makeshift locker areas in police facilities at Lisbon Airport, describing them as a health risk and emblematic of official neglect. Union representatives say that exhausted officers are being asked to process ever‑growing flows of passengers from cramped booths and overcrowded back‑office spaces.

What the unrest means for travellers

For passengers, the political and institutional tussle translates into a simple reality: crossing Lisbon’s external Schengen border can still take far longer than before, especially for travellers from the United States, United Kingdom and other non‑EU countries. While wait times have eased slightly since the most chaotic days of October, social media posts and local reports continue to show long lines forming with little warning when multiple flights arrive together.

The coming weeks will test whether the option to suspend the EES can be used to smooth the Christmas rush without weakening controls. If the system is paused at certain times or terminals, some travellers could find themselves processed under older, stamp‑based rules, while others still undergo biometric registration. Police unions fear that, under pressure, simplified procedures will again be used more liberally to keep people moving.

Practical advice for travellers remains familiar but important. Airlines and tourism bodies urge non‑EU visitors to arrive at the airport earlier than usual, particularly for morning departures, and to allow extra time before onward connections in Lisbon. Keeping documents ready, following signage for RAPID e‑gates where eligible, and remaining patient with officers working under heavy strain are all likely to make passage through Portugal’s busiest airport a little smoother.

FAQ

Q1. Why are there such long queues at Lisbon Airport’s border control?Queues have lengthened because Portugal introduced the EU’s new Entry/Exit System for non‑EU nationals in October 2025, adding biometric and electronic checks to each crossing, at a time when passenger volumes at Lisbon are already far above the airport’s design capacity.

Q2. What exactly is the Entry/Exit System (EES)?
The EES is an EU‑wide system that electronically records the date, time and place where non‑EU nationals enter or leave the Schengen area and, in many cases, captures fingerprints and a facial image. It replaces manual passport stamps and greatly increases the number of database queries for each traveller.

Q3. What do police unions mean by “simplified” border checks?According to the unions, a simplified procedure allows officers to verify that a passport is valid and matches the traveller without systematically entering it into security databases. They say this tool was meant only for departures and exceptional situations but is being used more often at Lisbon when queues surge.

Q4. Does this mean dangerous people can slip through?
Union representatives warn that if passports are not routinely checked against international and national watch‑lists, there is a higher risk that people who are wanted or under judicial restrictions could cross the border undetected. Authorities insist that security remains robust, but the August case of a homicide suspect nearly boarding a flight has fuelled concerns.

Q5. Is the airport operator really pressuring police to go faster?
The main PSP union alleges that Lisbon’s operator, ANA, has pushed the government and police to loosen controls so that waiting times fall. ANA strongly denies this, saying it has no say over how border checks are done and only wants maximum queuing‑time targets respected for the sake of passengers.

Q6. Could the EES be suspended over Christmas?
Yes, Portugal’s Internal Security System says it now has authorisation from the European Commission to suspend the EES temporarily at specific airports or times during the Christmas period if queues become unmanageable. Any decision would be taken case by case and, officials stress, should not compromise overall border security.

Q7. Will all passengers have their fingerprints and photo taken this winter?
Biometric data collection under the EES is being phased in. Between 10 December 2025 and 10 January 2026, Portuguese authorities are required to gather biometrics from at least 10% of passengers crossing the external border, so not every traveller will be enrolled immediately, but more will be asked to provide data over time.

Q8. Are other Portuguese airports facing the same problems?
Yes, though Lisbon has seen the worst bottlenecks. Faro and other airports with significant non‑Schengen traffic have also reported long waits since the EES went live, prompting national‑level responses and investments in extra equipment and automatic gates across the network.

Q9. Is the issue mainly a lack of police officers?
The government argues that more PSP agents are needed, but the unions counter that staffing is only part of the problem. They say outdated infrastructure, too few passport booths, poor internal organisation of flight schedules and the complexity of the new systems all contribute to the current difficulties.

Q10. What should I do if I am flying to or from Lisbon soon?
Travellers, especially from outside the Schengen area, should plan to arrive at the airport earlier than usual, monitor airline and airport advisories, and prepare for the possibility of long lines at passport control. Allow extra time for connections, carry any necessary visas and documents, and be ready for biometric registration if asked.