Portugal's Ministry of Internal Administration stated, in a clarification sent to the Lusa news agency, that a further 48 officers from the Public Security Police (PSP) will be deployed to Lisbon airport from Friday onwards.
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According to the same source, a further 14 "boxes" – that is, document control booths – will also be made available at arrivals, taking the total to 34, and another four at departures, raising their overall number to 18. This is intended to speed up border control procedures.
As for the "e-gates", or electronic gates, there will be 31 at arrivals, an increase of 14, and four more at departures, for a total of 18.
In its clarification to the Lusa agency, the Ministry of Internal Administration specified that once the "expansion and installation works at Lisbon airport" are completed, it is also planned, "during the months of June and July, to strengthen border control capacity at Porto and Faro airports, by increasing the number of 'boxes' and installing new 'e-gates'".
It is also reported that, from July and at national level, a further strengthening of airport security is planned, with 360 new personnel assigned to the National Foreigners and Borders Unit (UNEF). These are police officers who will be distributed among the various airports.
Lisbon airport has in fact recently seen long queues at border control, with delays being attributed to the new system that has been implemented at European level (Entry/Exit System – SES/EES), which has been introduced gradually since October last year.
In information released on another occasion by ACI Europe, the association of European airports, also to the Lusa agency, waiting times have reached up to 3.5 hours at peak congestion at border control posts on the continent, almost double the two hours recorded at the beginning of April.
It should be recalled that the Portuguese prime minister, Luís Montenegro, who had already said previously that the Government was "dissatisfied" with "the response provided by the border services at the airports" and "in particular at Lisbon", announced a few days ago that he intended to adopt measures "as a matter of utmost urgency and in an effective manner"to deal with the situation.