Portugal welcomes UK passengers through e-gates at immigration

Airports in Portugal can now use electronic e-gates at the border to help make entry into the country quicker and smoother.

Lisbon, Faro, Porto and Funchal (Madeira Island) airport all have RAPIDforALL e-gate facilities available, so British passengers using them do not need to queue in conventional passport control lanes, although they will still be required to go through a quick passport stamping process.

Operated by VINCI Airports, which also operates all international airports in Portugal, Gatwick airport has over 260 flights a week scheduled to and from Portugal this summer (April to Oct) – which makes it the largest gateway airport to Portugal in the UK.

easyJet will operate most flights between Gatwick and Portugal for the summer season, followed by TAP, BA, Wizz, and TUI.  Most flights will arrive in Faro, Lisbon, Porto and then Funchal).

Stephanie Wear, VP Airline Relations, Gatwick Airport, said: “It is very welcome news that UK passengers to Portugal now have the option to use e-gates at the border. This move really differentiates Portugal from other countries and will hopefully boost visitor numbers as people take advantage of the e-gate technology which makes it easier, more convenient and quicker for Britons to enter the country.

Chloé Lapeyre, CCO, ANA Aeroportos de Portugal, said:We are positive about the implementation of this new system RAPIDforALL by the Portuguese immigration authority in our main international airports and we facilitated the logistics to agilise their installation.  We hope that it will contribute positively to welcoming the traffic recovery, namely for British passengers that amounted 2,5 million and represent a relevant segment of tourism in Portugal.”