UK holidaymakers traveling to Portugal are to be treated like EU citizens at the airport in a bid to avoid delays. Travelers will be able to use the same channels and systems as people arriving from EU countries.
People with e-passports will be able to avoid long queues and physical checks and use electronic gates at Lisbon, Faro, Porto and Funchal in Madeira. Usually, thanks to Brexit, people from the UK arriving in EU countries have to go through more thorough checks, requiring passports being physically inspected.
Portugal is the first EU nation to waive airport manual checks for UK citizens. Paul Charles, the chief executive of the PC Agency, a travel consultancy, told the Telegraph: "Portugal is clearly leading the way in recognising that they have to process vast numbers of British visitors as seamlessly as possible otherwise there would be long queues this summer.
"So it’s a clever way of differentiating themselves from other countries who are not processing in the same way. I think you will see other EU countries follow this approach otherwise British travellers will face long delays going into France, Spain, Greece, Italy and other countries."
Portugal has also scrapped rules on wearing face masks indoors and the need to complete a locater form. Face coverings must still be worn in hospitals and on public transport.
