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This Friday, ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal rejected responsibility for the accumulation of passengers verified in the arrivals of Faro Airport and considered that the origin of the problem was the lack of resources of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).
“The aforementioned situation occurred in the arrival border control area, this area being the same used in the summer as in the winter period, contrary to what was stated” by SEF, he reacted to ANA in a written response sent to the Lusa agency.
Previously, SEF had warned that the accumulation of passengers at the arrivals of Faro Airport could be maintained if the documentary control continued in the “winter zone” and did not go to the “summer zone”, where there are 10 service points. instead of five.
But ANA refuted this position, arguing that “of the five available checkpoints, only two were in operation” and “the electronic control equipment was not working”, when on Wednesday the main accumulation of passengers at Algarve Airport due to the simultaneous arrival of several flights.
“ANA regrets that this lack of resources by SEF has a negative impact on passengers arriving at Faro airport,” added the company that manages Portuguese airports.
The same front stressed that it is “in regular contact with the entities” and “provides in advance the information on the planned traffic so that they can plan and adapt its operation, so it will clarify to the SEF the reasons for this type of event.” “.
It should also be noted that, despite several requests from ANA, it has not yet been possible to sign, with SEF, a service level agreement (a contractual right of ANA) with maximum waiting times to ensure compliance with international good practices. . as recommended by IATA [International Air Transport Association, sigla em inglês para a Associação Internacional do Transporte Aéreo]”said the airport company.
A SEF source had told Lusa today that the Service has already reinforced 12 inspectors for Faro Airport after, on Wednesday, a simultaneous arrival of eight flights, with more than 800 passengers, caused passengers to accumulate in the document control area.
Currently, the documentary control of passengers at Faro Airport is working, as determined by ANA Aeroportos, in the so-called ‘winter zone’, which is not suitable to receive the exponential growth in the number of passengers (+ 190%) , after the opening of the air corridor with the United Kingdom ”, argued SEF in a statement.
SEF explained that the photographs that circulate on social networks and that show a cluster of passengers without any social distance in the Faro arrivals area represent “a specific and circumscribed situation, recorded in just one hour, on August 26”, because In that period of time, eight flights landed at that airport structure, corresponding to more than 800 passengers controlled at the border ”.
“In order to ensure the articulation of strategies and the implementation of better solutions, without ever neglecting the security in the documentary control that is required at national and European level, 16 e-gates will operate again from next Monday. generation, which will allow automated border control in less than 20 seconds (eight located in the departure area and eight in the arrivals area), ”the SEF also announced.
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