Waiting times at Porto’s Sá Carneiro airport over two hours
Border control at Porto airport recorded waiting times exceeding two hours, admitted the Public Security Police (PSP), which nevertheless has rejected reports of six-hour waits.
The PSP stated that the maximum waiting time on Sunday, “with peak waiting times between 9:00 AM and 12:00 PM, never exceeded 100 minutes in Faro, 110 minutes in Lisbon, and 130 minutes in Porto.”
In a statement released Sunday night, the PSP (Portuguese Public Security Police) justified the delays on technical and IT reasons and with the “high number of passengers from outside the Schengen Area”.
The three airports processed approximately 69,000 passengers on flights arriving from outside the Schengen Area, the police noted.
“Contingency measures were taken early on, always in strict compliance with security rules and border control regulations,” said the PSP, “with the reference parameters being reached by the end of the morning”.
The police lamented what they described as “repeated misinformation” regarding air border controls, citing as an example “news reports of six-hour waiting times.”
This misinformation “misleads our citizens, damaging the image” of the country, stressed the PSP (Public Security Police), which also appealed for responsibility in sharing information.
“The circulation of unverified information causes unjustified alarm and harms not only the normal functioning of border operations but also the overall effectiveness of airport operations,” warned the police.
The PSP stated that investments are underway to increase border control capacity, strengthen human resources, and improve technological capabilities.
Sunday marked the second day that border control at Portuguese airports experienced delays due to technical computer difficulties, with waiting times exceeding one hour on Saturday.
“ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal confirms the long waiting times today at border control, exceeding one hour, in the departures area of Humberto Delgado Airport,” an official ANA source told Lusa on Saturday, following reports of long queues.
The constraints that have been occurring at Lisbon airport’s border control led the government last year to temporarily suspend the European border control system for non-EU citizens, known as the European Union Entry/Exit System (EES), which has been back in operation since the beginning of this year.
Source and Credit: ANA, ECO Online
