Humberto Delgado Airport — Local services in Lisbon

For our trip to Portugal, we arrived and departed the country via Humberto Delgado Airport and it is really one of the worse airport experiences I've ever had.

The airport is clearly inadequate in size and capacity to handle the amount of passengers and aircraft that it gets on a daily basis. Our flights to and from Lisbon had to be parked on the apron as there were not enough gates with jet bridges to accommodate all the planes, meaning we had to be shuttle bused from the aircraft to disembark for arrival and then back to the aircraft when embarking for departure. This resulted in a much longer time to get off and get on the plane, and the ground handling staff seems to work very slowly. I noticed using flightaware that the history of our departing flight never left on time and was typically 40-60 minutes likely due to the factors noted above. Our flight, due to a combination of comedic issues, left over 3 hours late.

The design of the departure area is also just an absolute mess. The gate area for the international flights do not separate arriving and departing passengers, they all get mixed into the same concourse, which means the entire international gate concourse is passport-controlled. As a result, the only way to get into and out of the concourse is to go through customs. Yes, you have to go through customs to get into the country and then go through customs again to get out of the country but there are no signs or anything to warn you of this because the exit customs is located AFTER the main shops and food court and security screening. There is no way to know this unless you read through all the reviews here, or have used this airport before.

As a result, we noticed many people who were caught off guard by needing to go through passport control to get to the international gates for their departing flights, who clearly did not leave enough time for this because both entry and exit customs are very slow, and if there are long lines, expect to wait 1 to 2 hours or more if you are not an a Portugese/EU citizen or do not have an electronic passport from a small list of countries, or are traveling with anyone under 18.

We saw many people in both the entry and exit customs lines who were in a total panic about missing their departing/connecting flights because they were not aware of the exit customs requirement and the long lines and wait-times. The few airport staff we saw were mostly unhelpful, we saw people who were at risk of missing their flights begging airport staff to move them to the head of the line in customs just to be dismissed and told no. Families with young kids were also ignored and made to wait in the longest lines.

The international gate concourse was also insufficient in size, with only a few shops and food options, signages were confusing and arriving and departing passengers being put in the same area made it unnecessarily crowded and difficult and confusing to navigate. Gates don't get assigned to flights until an hour or two before departure time, and the gate areas are much too small and have little to no seating in the waiting area to handle the hundreds of passengers most planes can carry.

I've been to many airports during peak summer travel season that struggle to handle the tourist capacity but this is easily the worse I've seen yet. The upside is that the airport is relatively centrally located in the city with good access to the Metro line so once you're out, you're only 30 minutes away from the heart of Lisbon, but if you need to use this airport be prepared to wait and allocate a lot of extra time...

Humberto Delgado Airport (LIS), also known as Lisbon Airport, is Portugal's primary international gateway. Located just 7 km northeast of Lisbon's city center, it serves over 35 million passengers annually (2024), making it Europe's 13th busiest airport and the busiest single runway airport in mainland Europe . Operated by ANA-Vinci Airports under a concession until 2062, it is a key hub for TAP Air Portugal, Ryanair, and easyJet, with extensive connections to Europe, South America (notably Brazil), and Africa . Terminal 1 (T1): Main terminal for all arrivals and full-service airlines. Facilities include duty-free shopping, lounges, and a food court. Gates are split into Schengen (S) and non-Schengen (N) zones, with passport control after security for nonSchengen flights . Terminal 2 (T2): Dedicated to low-cost carriers. Minimal amenities and frequent queues. Connected to T1 via a free shuttle (15–20 mins) but has no metro access . Single runway (02/20: 3,705 m) handling ~225,000 annual movements (2024) . Terminal 1 is being upgraded with 10 new jet bridges and 12 parking stands (completion by 2027), aiming to boost capacity to 50 million passengers/year . Wi-Fi: Free but seems not working. Avoid taxis quoting fixed fares; insist on the meter . Expect long queues in Terminal 2 for checkin, security, and food. Allocate extra 30+ mins for the T1–T2 shuttle . For nonSchengen flights, passport checks are after dutyfree shopping. Proceed immediately when gates are announced to avoid missing flights . The airport’s city center location causes traffic bottlenecks and noise pollution. Night flights are restricted. Future New Lisbon Airport (Luís de Camões) in Alcochete (40 km east; replacing Humberto Delgado by 2034–2037) . Costing €8.5–€9 billion; two runways (expandable to four), targeting 100 million passengers/year by 2050. It was approved after decades of debate; environmental concerns shelved Montijo as an alternative . Current Humberto Delgado airport will cease operations post transition, with its site repurposed for urban development . Opened in 1942 as Portela Airport; renamed in 2016 to honor Humberto Delgado, an anti-fascist general and TAP founder . Served as a WWII neutral hub for Allied/Axis spies and refugee escapes (featured in Casablanca) . Privatized in 2012; Vinci Airports holds a 50 year concession . It is overcapacity. Handles 12% more passengers than pre-pandemic levels, leading to congestion and low customer satisfaction. Humberto Delgado Airport balances convenience (proximity to Lisbon) with operational strain. Passengers should prioritize metro access, avoid T2 delays, and monitor the Alcochete transition. Despite its shortcomings, LIS remains vital to Portugal’s tourism and economy, with expansions and a future replacement set to address...

Let me preface by saying Lisbon is a wonderful city, and Portugal is a beautiful country with amazing people.

But this review is not about Lisbon or PT, but about the airport, which might be one of the most disorganized in the world.

It also relates to TAP the national airline that is closely related and has effectively a near monopoly on most routes out of Lisbon.

Airport: eGates: do not work predictably, 80% of the time they are “green” but do not read passports, this is across passengers. If not gate be prepared for a 45 minute wait to exit immigration (separate from security) if leaving Schengen. total disorganization: the lines make no rhyme or reason, people just block pathways because there are no directions and no ushers to guide people, so the airport which is overcrowded becomes highly chaotic TAP & Counter Agents: you will wait in 30 minutes lines in a “customer service” desk only to be told to go to a different desk, and wait for another 30 minutes rinse and repeat. Zero help or guidance, Kafkaesque beaurocracy

TAP: Flight Cancellations: If your TAP flight is cancelled, your experience will very similar to the movie “The Hunger Games”. You’ll clash between other passengers for 45 minutes to be given a 12 Euro voucher for dinner, and likely to get rebooked on a flight that makes zero sense (a 7 pm flight LIS- London becomes LIS - Frankfurt , Frankfurt - London at 5 am). Impossible to get refunds because the website is dysunfctional, customer service number auto hangs up mid call, etc. “Carry on luggage” : you are allowed to bring carry on luggage but 100% of the time TAP will force you to check it in at the gate (this is a TAP specific policy, most airlines I’ve traveled with outside TAP do not do this). They will tell you the flight is “full” , even if the flight is 50% empty (happened to me many times where 60% overhead capacity is totally empty). Now that your carry on is checked in , Good luck if the bag makes it to your destination or nothing gets damaged (laptops, etc). You’ll need to pay for premium boarding/business to guarantee you can bring carry on. Jet Bridge: if you don’t ride the monopoly TAP airline, you will not have a jet bridge. You will ride on a bus, that’s about 15 minutes drive from plane, which is uncommon in most first world airports in the 21st century. Keep in mind the bus means gate closes earlier than usually, so you’ll need to be at gate 40 min pre departure

long story short, Lisbon is wonderful, but minimize visits to the airport or TAP airlines as much...