Portugal suspends new european passport control system to ease pressure at airports

Given the persistence of long lines at border control at Lisbon Airport, with waiting times reaching up to seven hours, the Government decided to suspend for three months the application of the new entry and exit system for passengers entering or exiting the Schengen area.

The Ministry of Internal Administration also stated, in a communiqué, that it will take advantage of the GNR’s capacity to immediately reinforce human resources at border control at Humberto Delgado Airport, although it did not specify numbers.

The capacity of electronic and physical border control equipment will also be increased by 30%, “up to the maximum supported by the current airport infrastructure.” The planned investment, of up to €7.5 million, was approved by the Council of Ministers on Monday.

The Ministry explains the decision by pointing to “the worsening of constraints in the ‘arrivals area’ of Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon for non-European passengers arriving from outside the Schengen Area, linked to the evolution of the European Union’s new Entry Exit System (EES).”

The EES began to be applied on a mandatory basis from 12 October 2025, in a gradual manner. On 10 December, a new phase came into force, involving the collection of biometric data from a small proportion of passengers. The system must be fully implemented by 10 April 2026.

With the suspension, only manual passport control will be carried out. The possibility of suspending the system had already been acknowledged to Lusa by the Internal Security System (SSI), which is responsible for managing border control, but the Minister of Internal Administration had expressed opposition to this solution in Parliament, while stressing that the decision rested with the Government.

“I do not have a definitive answer on that matter. I cannot have one. As far as I am concerned, such a solution should be avoided altogether. The decision does not depend solely on me. What is at stake is my position. My position is to avoid a suspension until the very last moment,” she told MPs on 16 December.

At the end of October, the Government approved the creation of a task force to manage passenger flows in the border control system at Humberto Delgado Airport and reduce waiting times. The order stipulated that, in the short term, the average waiting time at border control on arrivals at Humberto Delgado Airport should be “under 30 minutes” and the maximum waiting time “under 75 minutes.” These limits have been widely exceeded.

“There are dozens, hundreds, thousands of passengers missing connections. There is the problem of luggage (…), it is indeed a serious cost problem,” said Paulo Geisler, president of RENA – the Association of Airlines in Portugal, speaking to Antena 1 on Tuesday. “It is a human problem that is also being experienced at the airport, and it has to be resolved,” he urged.

For the Christmas and New Year period, an additional 80 officers were deployed, which proved insufficient to cope with the increased passenger flow during this time. With no other alternatives, the Government ultimately chose to suspend the EES.