In a written response sent to Lusa, the manager said that “due to the strike called by SIIFF, the Union of Foreign and Border Service workers, from 14 to 31 August, at times of greater international traffic, high waiting times are expected at border control at the airports of Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Funchal, Porto Santo and Ponta Delgada”.

The company guaranteed that “they will do everything in its power to mitigate the delays caused to passengers, whom they thank in advance for their understanding and cooperation”. ANA also asks passengers to “whenever possible” and when they are going to countries outside the Schengen area to leave “earlier for boarding”.

SEF border workers will start a partial strike on Saturday that will last until the end of the month, the union announced on Thursday. In a statement, SIIFF explained that this partial strike stems from the Government's lack of response regarding the rights of these inspectors following the approval of the proposed law that "provides for the dispersion of SEF's police powers by the PJ , PSP and GNR".

A Union source told Lusa that the partial strike will last two hours a day.