Lisbon Airport

After living here and traveling around Europe frequently for several years, I’m very familiar with the airport.

At first, I found it a bit confusing with the entry doors on the ground floor and checkin for most airlines one floor up. There is decent signage, though.

The biggest complaints I’m aware of is passport control - which you will have to do flying to the states. Depending on how many international flights are leaving or arriving, it can be pretty awful. A 30 minute wait seems to be normal. October won’t be as bad as the summer. And, the government has been working to change the agency who deals with this (SEF) for a long time. Surely, the change will have been made by October.

The other problem is having to take a bus then climb stairs to a significant portion of the flights. However, with the large airplane you should be flying, you should be able to access the plane via skybridge.

I’ve had problems at many airports in Europe, so I don’t think of Lisbon being that much worse than others.

Both airlines you mention are fine.

A 30 minute wait to go through passport control is acceptable but some persons are saying they had a 5 or 6 hour wait.

Other complaints were the signage and the confusion about where to go, etc but the biggest one was the wait to go through passport control.

Leaving Lisbon, some passengers were upset because they were missing their plane due to long lines at passport control and they were pushing to get up front etc. There was a lot of chaos and confusion.

Other complaints were from passengers arriving in the middle of the night. They had long waits at passport control and there was nowhere to buy food or drink.

It was said that there were only two staff screening travelers and there were hundreds of travelers. I have seen some of the youtube videos.

I think that one of the problems is pent up demand for traveling after COVID and Lisbon was not yet prepared for this pent up demand. There are also staff shortages everywhere. We are having the same problem in Austin.

But other travelers were having very positive experiences at the Lisbon airport. It was not all bad.

I am hoping that by next October, the situation might be improved but at minimum, I will be prepared.

I hope that I can take the Skybridge as I am old and have arthritis in my knees and spinal stenosis.

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If you want to cover all your bases, you might want to ask for wheelchair assistance. It works quite well, especially if you can’t do stairs. They have this lift type devise they use for people who can’t do stairs.

kathrynj in Portugal

I am old but still vain.

I probably should be using a cane but still not ready for it.

Same thing with a wheelchair at an airport even though I am probably eligible

Totally understand. But, I’ve accepted that if a wheelchair enables me to continue traveling - so be it.

When I arrived at Lisbon airport this October, there were chaotic crowds waiting for their taxis and Ubers - some complaining of their 15+ minute wait times. And I could see surge pricing was in effect.

I opted to take the metro. There was an attendant helping the few travelers buy their tickets and Viva Viagem cards. No chaos in the station or on the platform. The trains weren't crowded.

I did have to navigate stairs with my luggage at both ends of my commute. I didn't check for elevators.

The metro station is just at one end of the ground floor... no further to walk than the taxi and uber waiting area.

I can walk up and down a reasonable amount of stairs. And even an unreasonable amount of stairs. There have been times when I was forced to walk up NINE flights of stairs where I live because of problems with the elevators. And I did it, slowly but I did it.

I would be afraid of falling if I had luggage but perhaps there is some kind of lift. I am not the only older passenger and then there will be plenty with disabilities.

I think I will be sticking with public transportation

Just want to say thanks for all the helpful, kind and informative responses.

Flew home from Lisbon last month. Early morning flight. Getting to the airport was easy, quick and inexpensive in a car arranged by our hotel. We are fairly experienced travelers. I found the airport confusing and the signage lacking. The lines were long and it seemed like more than the average number of travelers were having some sort of problem that held up steady progress. We had given ourselves a generous amount of time, 3 hours, as is suggested and made it to our gate just as boarding was starting.

We left Lisbon this past week (Dec. 13) and it took under an hour to get through passport control. By the time we made it through, the line was w-a-y long. Only three of the eight passport windows were open.

Lisbon Airport may be having staff shortages just like we are having in the United States. Maybe things will have improved by next October? Just maybe?

It seems that a lot of people are traveling in the shoulder season and even off season.

I am a very inexperienced traveler and hope that I will not have problems with signage, confusing lines, confusion, etc.

Also as insane as it may seem, I sleep in the airport the night before. I am afraid of missing my plane and I
usually go through passport control, security, immigration (whatever it is called) as soon as it opens like 4
a.m. Then I can relax, eat, people watch and not rush for my plane. I have no problem with being very early but I dread being late.

Is the Lisbon airport open 24/7? Usually I have plenty of company when I spend the night at the airport. It looks to be a beautiful airport. I have read there are only two terminals and being an international passenger, I will probably be leaving from Terminal One

I flew to Seattle in September and got to the airport the night before. My plane was leaving maybe mid morning the next day.

Would you believe that we had. a major blackout early morning. The entire airport went black for hours. Doors were locked and no one could leave or come in. Nothing worked. No one trying to go through security could go through.

Even pilots could not get through. A lot of people missed their planes.

My plane was allowed to leave about one hour late but it was half full. Other planes were hours late in leaving. I do not know what happened with planes arriving

But if I had not gotten to the airport the night before, I probably would have missed my plane.

I flew on Delta out of Lisbon this summer. The airport signs are clear, although I wasn’t paying close attention at Passport Control. I could have used the automated system, but stood in line for 45 minutes before I realized I could have used the other option where people were passing through without any problem. I got to the gate just before my flight boarded. Lesson learned.

Just flew out of Lisbon this morning, on a 530am flight, with my teen daughter and Senior mother. I have to say it was a breeze. We took a car from hotel, and arrived 2 hours before flight. We were Air France (Delta), and the line to check in was short (even shorter at sky priority). There was no line at security. In all, it took us probably 20 min to check in and get through security to the waiting area prior to going to gate area.

thank you jeff and atclindsay for your information. Makes me feel good.