Lisbon, May 19, 2026 (Lusa) - The Portuguese Public Security Police (PSP) checked nearly 6.3 million passengers at national airports during the first four months of 2026, acknowledging that border control had experienced "longer-than-desired waiting times" at certain periods.
The National Police Directorate provisional figures released on Monday indicate that, between January and April, a total of 6,295,550 passengers were checked at all national airports, of whom nearly 3.3 million were entering the country through air borders and the remaining 3 million were leaving Portugal.
In addition to checking passengers from outside the Schengen Area, in the first four months of 2026, the PSP’s Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF) carried out 11,535 stops, which occur when officers approach a passenger to check security, documents or the legality of their stay in the country, with a further 980 refusals of entry and 185 arrests.
In a statement, the National Police Directorate confirmed that the implementation of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) had occasionally led to longer waiting times than desired, due to technical IT issues, and the high volume of passengers from outside the Schengen Area.
These constraints, which were also observed last weekend, forced the adoption of contingency measures in “strict compliance with safety rules and border control regulations”, the police assured.
According to the police, there were ‘peaks’ on Monday between 11 a.m. and 12.30 p.m., leading to waiting times of 40 minutes for departures and 140 minutes for arrivals at Lisbon airport, 70 minutes for departures and 40 minutes for arrivals at Faro airport, and 25 minutes for departures and 75 minutes for arrivals at Porto airport.
The police confirmed that standard reference parameters had been restored by the end of the morning.
The constraints that have been occurring at Lisbon airport’s border control led the government, in 2025, to temporarily suspend the European border control system for non-EU citizens, which has been operational again since the start of 2026.
The infrastructure and housing minister said in Coimbra on Monday that there will be improvements to services at Lisbon airport in June, with the completion of the work to expand the arrivals area.
When asked about the delays at border control at Portuguese airports, Miguel Pinto Luz said that the government “is making every effort, with the [European] Commission and internally, to resolve this situation”.
Meanwhile, the interior ministry announced that Lisbon airport will have more manual border control lanes from 29 May to strengthen operational capacity and reduce waiting times.
There are also plans to increase the number of e-gates (automated border control) and, from July, to boost the number of police staff assigned to border control.
The prime minister expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of border control services due to the long queues at airports and said that, if the situation continues, the collection of biometric data may be suspended.
“I make no secret of the fact that we [the government] are dissatisfied with border services response at airports, particularly at Lisbon airport."
"We will push this effort to the very limit to resolve the situation," said Luís Montenegro.
PC/MYAL // AYLS
Lusa
