The PSP will strengthen border and customs checks at Madeira International Airport with new specialised agents, as part of the national deployment of 367 police officers who have just finished border control training. These officers will begin two weeks of operational training on Monday before taking up their posts. Along with the 170 agents assigned to Lisbon airport, the remaining personnel will be sent to the airports of Porto, Faro, Madeira, and the Azores. Their arrival follows the end of the reinforcement mission carried out by the GNR at Humberto Delgado Airport, in Lisbon. The PSP said that the operation, which started in January this year, helped improve border control capacity while airport expansion works were taking place and new border guards were being trained. Luís Neves said the new reinforcement should make passenger screening at national airports more efficient, although occasional problems may still occur because of computer failures or difficulties accessing national and international databases. He also noted that rising air traffic continues to strain airport infrastructure, adding that Portugal is now receiving 20,000 more passengers per day than in the same period last year.
