a Balances the emergency plan that was in force at the air border posts of national airports between June and September to meet the increase in the number of passengers in the summer period today at the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI), in Lisbon.
The National Director of the Service for Foreigners and Borders, Fernando Silva, explained that the waiting times are recorded by ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal.
Fernando Silva also said that the waiting time which was modeled and recorded by ANA “is the maximum waiting time that a traveler waits each day at the border control”.
He explained that “in May of this year, the maximum time waited for a passenger at Lisbon airport was 1 hour and 50 minutes and it was possible to reduce the time between June and September to 50 minutes,” stressing that the result “is in line with the best results recorded in Europe.”
Between June and September, SEF handled 7.2 million passengers on arrival and departure, mostly from the United Kingdom, Portugal, Brazil and Ireland.
The SEF emergency plan for Portuguese airports during the summer months included a set of measures that began in June and gradually entered into force until the beginning of July.
Among the measures were the promotion of 200 inspectors, 168 PSP agents, and several technological and operational solutions.
The SEF director also submitted that, within four months, 610 people were denied entry to the country, 158 were detained at border posts, most of them used forged documents or without a visa, 211 asylum applications were submitted, and the numbers increased compared to previous years.
Also attending the ceremony, the Chairman of the ANA Board of Directors, Jose Luis Arnaud, gave a positive assessment of the plan, and emphasized that the difficulties arose due to a higher than expected influx of tourism, but it was overcome.
“The efforts of the SEF and PSP, with the early and late filling of the existing cabins and system of boxes, allowed the infrastructure to match the flows,” he said, pleading to start thinking about the summer of 2023.
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