“Today is certainly critical day,” João Ribeiro, deputy national director of the PSP and head of the National Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF), told Lusa, adding that during the morning, there were queues at Humberto Delgado airport with non-EU citizens having to wait more than 90 minutes for departures and arrivals.

Since Sunday, the new European border control system for non-EU citizens has been in operation in Portugal and the rest of the Schengen area, in which the entry and exit of travellers from third countries will be recorded electronically, with the date, time and border post indicated, replacing the traditional stamps in passports.

On Monday, the Internal Security System (SSI) emphasised the success of the start-up of this new system, but today the situation changed with tens of thousands of foreign citizens from outside the EU arriving and departing at Lisbon airport.

According to the head of the PSP’s UNEF, Tuesday is the day with the most flights to and from the Schengen area (European area for the free movement of people and goods) and the new Entry/Exit System (EES) requires “a longer processing time at the border”.

“Looking at the period, I have been in this role for over a year, today is the most challenging day to date due to the volume of departing and arriving passengers, which is requiring a great deal of effort and commitment of resources,” emphasised João Ribeiro