The Minister of Internal Administration made this Monday “a positive assessment” of the contingency plan in force since last week at Portuguese airports, considering that the objective of “reducing waiting times” had been met.
“Apparently, in light of the data that we were able to collect this weekend, the indicators are positive because we met one of the objectives, which was to reduce waiting times at the airport“, José Luís Carneiro told journalists on the sidelines of the congress of inspectors of the Immigration and Border Service.
Chaos at Lisbon airport with queues of hundreds of people after the plenary session of the SEF
The minister stressed that the data collected shows that “there was a very significant reduction in waiting times at the airport for passenger flows that come mainly from outside the European Union and outside the Schengen Area.
The official pointed out that the great flow of passengers, specifically at the Lisbon airport, occurs between 5:00 am and lunchtime.
José Luís Carneiro also drew attention to what is happening at other international airports, where many they have already had to suspend “flights due to lack of conditions, in response to exponential growth”.
The minister also admitted the existence of queues at Portuguese airports, taking into account that “when five or six thousand people go to 16 service boxes, it is natural that there is some waiting time”.
The contingency plan for border posts at Portuguese airports for the period from June to September 2022 was announced last week and came into force last Thursday in Faro and the following day in Lisbon, coming into operation in the rest of the airports staggered until the end of the first fortnight of June.
According to the contingency plan, National airports will have reinforcement of 238 SEF and PSP elements during the summer months, 82% more than the current workforce at border posts, with the largest increase in Lisbon and Faro.
SEF prepares operations plan for the summer months at airports
In total, Portuguese airports will have 529 elements to carry out border controls on passengers coming from non-European Union countries.
The plan also includes a reinforcement of 168 PSP agents and electronic means at the Lisbon airport.
Source: Observadora
