If you are packing your bag to fly to or from Lisbon, this is for you.
Due to Pope Francis visit to Portugal, next Friday, the Schengen Agreement will be suspended between May 10 and May 14.
This means that security measures will be a bit stricter during this period and travellers will be asked to show their documents when entering Portugal, even if they come from a country that have signed the Schengen Agreement.
According to the information provided by SEF (Portuguese Immigration and Borders Service) only the documents required by the Portuguese authorities will be valid to enter the national territory and no alternative, invalid or expired documents will be accepted.
On the other hand, at check-in services passengers may also have to provide their contacts.
These actions are part of a security plan, carefully thought by Portuguese authorities, and everything should develop smoothly but arriving and departing may take a bit more time than usual.
Therefore, passengers are advised to head to the airport as early as possible, when travelling from Lisbon, and to have their documents ready to be shown on document control, when asked.
Also, during between May 13 and May 17, the airport’s own security staff is due to go on strike so, whenever possible, check-in your luggage and avoid traveling with hand baggage, in order make the security screening quicker and more efficient.
If you have any doubts, we recommend you get in touch with your air company and keep in mind that with a little bit of patience and the cooperation of everyone, everything will much simpler.
