Lisbon’s Humberto Delgado Airport was recently called one of the world’s worst. Not a total shocker to anyone who’s seen social media picks of long, snaking lines in recent months after the EU’s new passport control measures added longer processing times for most non-EU travelers. In fact, next month more than 200 police officers will be added to Portugal airports to help cut line bottlenecking.
That all said, it’s not all bad and the lines aren’t always crazy. In fact, I just had one of my best-ever airport experiences anywhere in the Lisbon airport mid-week, mid-morning!
I recently traveled to Lisbon from Detroit, as did my 18 college students. We were there for a 3-week study abroad college class, which I led. Most of us didn’t fly together on the same flights and we took various trips in/out of Portugal over the month… so we had a lot of experience in the Lisbon airport between us. Most of which was surprisingly great! Here’s a look at our experiences in May 2026 (as well as context from my trip to/from Lisbon in June 2025 with my family, which included minors, which changes the rules/lines you need to go in).
Flying to Madrid from Lisbon
I was worried that I would need extra time to fly from Lisbon to Madrid, Spain -even though I was staying in the European Union- due to the chaos I’d heard about coming from outside the EU. I did NOT. In fact, I’ve never had an easier flying experience. I flew Lisbon to Madrid on TAP on a Wednesday at the end of June on a 10:20am flight. Got there two hours ahead to be safe. Had sooooooooooo much time. It would be SO easy to do a day trip from Lisbon to Madrid if you had no luggage. I was amazed! It was easier than some of the trains as it was on time and we got in 20 minutes early. I can’t say enough good things about TAP, the Portugal-based airline. I’m now actually thinking I will do a day trip to Madrid next year just to go to a museum I want to see there that was closed this year.
My longest part of my airport experience that day was that my bag was overweight and I had to pay $75 fee (more than my actual ticket, mind you). (This was due to a month’s worth of travel and souvenirs I bought for my three kids. I do not recommend traveling with luggage like I did. This was my first month-long European adventure and I was solo, so everything was different for me. But that’s another story. So come back soon to read more about my experience lugging luggage across Spain’s trains, metro and buses.) Lisbon’s kind airport workers actually helped me try to figure out how not to have to pay it. They were SO nice and gave me ideas for how to rearrange things, in addition to leading me to the line I needed.
My hot tip is to check a second bag as it is cheaper than an overweight bag. This is what I did flying home on KLM from Barcelona. Worked amazingly!!!
Flying Lisbon to Madeira
Four of my students traveled to Portugal’s gorgeous Madeira island from Lisbon and it went so well, I’m doing it next year for a long weekend! Flight was easy and quick. They had a Friday late afternoon flight out and Sunday night flight back. All was well. No delays. They did not check bags, only had weekend backpack carry-ons.
This was even during Madeira’s popular flower festival weekend. Their tip was to bring real hiking wear for the serious trails including a rain jacket and shoes that can get super muddy.
Flying Lisbon to Dublin
I had a student who did a Friday night flight to Dublin, Ireland. For those not aware, Ireland IS in the European Union, but is NOT in the Schengen Area, which means different airport protocols! Don’t assume your European vacation destinations are all in the Schengen Area or EU. Ireland is not part of the UK either (that’s Northern Ireland), so you don’t need one of the UK ETAs. Be sure to look it up.
We were worried about non-Schengen travel as it means dealing with passport control. But she had zero issues. The takeaway: night flights = great idea, as she had no lines in or out!! She only did a backpack weekend bag and highly recommended this weekend excursion to others.
Also of note, my student who flew to Amsterdam (in the EU and in the Schengen Area) for a weekend to go to a concert had no problems in or out of AMS or LIS!
Boston to Lisbon
A majority of my students flew this route last month via Boston. I did the exact same flights last June, leaving Boston at 11pm and arriving about 9am. (We all started in Detroit, which is truly one of the best U.S. airports!) They had minimal waits at Lisbon border control, despite the EES system, all reporting no drama and less than an hour in line. Students did report that after they got thru the line, it looked much longer. Important to note here, they are all over 18 and traveling solo, which does impact lines because they were all able to use the e-passport line for US travelers. Last year (pre-EES system) I flew with my family with two under 18 children and had to do the “big line,” which had a 45-minute wait. I had set a stopwatch so I know for sure, even though it felt longer. This matched our wait at CDG in Paris the year before.
Read our guide to landing in Lisbon and what to do between wheels down and hotel check in for more details and help get a feel of what to expect that day.
Lisbon to Boston
Again, a majority of my students flew this last month and I did same flights last June with my family. On our various flights, we arrived the recommended three hours ahead of flight time as that’s when bag check opens. They all checked bags and they all got thru no issues because they listened to my advice: DO NOT go to duty free or get coffee or food until AFTER you get thru the international passport control! The week before one student had a friend who missed her flight from Lisbon to Boston and had to stay an extra night because she “waited for her gate to be announced.” DO NOT DO THIS!!!!! That only works for EU travelers!!!! International travelers MUST go immediately to the passport control line. All international is in the same place AFTER passport control!
Do not get confused with the VAT tax line! Look to see what line you’re getting into. This year, I saw some people assume they were getting into passport control line when they walked out of the duty free shopping area, but it was clearly the VAT line and they didn’t know because they’d never been there before, nor did they check. The VAT line is only if you spent big in one store and pre-did paperwork. It is optional and most likely you don’t need to do it, just let Portugal keep that $$ to keep making improvements in their beautiful country.
Paris to Lisbon
Fearing border control problems in Lisbon, I opted to fly into Europe, landing in Paris, then flying on to Lisbon, being there are no direct flights to anywhere in Portugal from Detroit. This was an easy and great choice.
I flew early May on a Sunday night on Air France from Detroit to Paris, went thru the (fast) EU border security at CDG airport for connecting passengers and had 3.5 of my 4 hour layover to sit around and do nothing. The good news is the flight into Lisbon was super easy, as I had already been thru passport control in Paris, I just had to grab my bag and walk thru the virtually non-existent customs line in which I “declared nothing” so didn’t even need to stop. It takes one whole minute from bag claim to get to the coffeeshops and onto the pickup area for your Bolt or Uber ride, or the metro, which is also super easy with luggage and very economical. Bolt and Uber are both also super fair priced in Lisbon and easy. And being it only takes 20 minutes to get from the airport to downtown Lisbon, it is really fast too. That’s such an awesome feature of Lisbon’s airport is how close it is to the actual city, just like in Amsterdam!
Takeways
Don’t assume it will be fast or easy. Get off your flight, go to the bathroom quickly, fill up your water bottle and get into the passport control line into the country. Same thing for leaving. Plan on three hours ahead of flight time to arrive at the airport – not leave your hotel and don’t go shopping or get a coffee or even go to the bathroom. Get to the line, wait, then you can relax once in the international terminal and hopefully with lots of time to wait without panic about missing your flight.
What about you? Let us know your experiences at Lisbon’s airport in 2026!
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