"The unpredictability of potential technological failures combined with the exponential increase in passengers led us to believe that it would be urgent to further reinforce the personnel for the next 15 days. This was precisely the terrible experience of this week, in which there were queues for extra Schengen passengers that reached unsustainable proportions," said Maria Lucia Amaral.

“The situation at the airport has been very difficult for arrivals and departures of passengers from outside Europe, from the external borders of the Union, outside Schengen, because of changes in European rules,” she added.

Maria Lúcia Amaral recalled that there were technical and human failures and assured that, starting today, Humberto Delgado Airport has 80 more PSP officers to avoid further disruptions.

“The failures are, as always, both technical and human, and this week there was a strong disruption because of both, technical and human failures. Therefore, it was decided, and today that decision began to be implemented regarding the human component, to increase the number of PSP members by 80, who will begin their duties at Lisbon Airport,” she added.

According to the government official, 50 PSP (Public Security Police) officers will begin their duties today, and on Monday, another 30 will be added to try to address the shortcomings for the upcoming period, which is "a more demanding period."

The new European border control system for non-EU citizens came into operation on October 12th in Portugal and the remaining Schengen Area countries, and since then, waiting times have worsened, particularly at Lisbon airport, with passengers sometimes having to wait for several hours.

This situation led the government to create an emergency task force at the end of October to manage this crisis.

Since December 10th, the second phase has been underway, involving the collection of biometric data, which consists of obtaining photographs and fingerprints of passengers, further complicating the situation.

In parliament, where she was questioned about the long queues at border control in Portuguese airports, the measures adopted, and the expected timelines for their resolution, the minister also stated that currently 236 PSP (Public Security Police) officers are assigned to Humberto Delgado Airport, while the need is for 270.

The minister affirmed that PSP officers must be accredited with the border guard training course, organized by the European agency Frontex, and stressed that "without this course and without this training, it is not possible to place police officers at the airport."

The minister added that "10 border guard training courses are planned to be carried out progressively in 2026."