I flew out of Faro last Thursday, day before Easter. Took about 45 minutes from the time I arrived until the time I was through the final passport check. The airport departures area wasn't massively busy. I flew Easyjet, there were maybe 100 people in front of me. Their checkin was fairly efficient and rather nicely they opened up the Speedy Boarding desk to those with small children and those over 65. No issues at all going through security.

The queue for the final passport check for those going to the third world (UK) was very long but took only ten minutes or so.

I did notice a huge mass of people in the arrivals area waiting to go through passport control. The E gates are not in use as everyone's paperwork has to be checked. There is an issue with residents using British passports. If they go through the gates it logs them as visitors who must leave on 90 days. So manual checks are needed.

All that of course could be different on any given day. On my previous flight out from Faro in February I was standing in the checkin queue itself for 50 minutes.

How we expect a UK government to react to another government's decisions when they cannot sort themselves out?

Why refer to an airport website that hasn't been updated when there is a clear statement on the official Portuguese government site?

"The law that required filling in the Passenger Locator Form on all flights to Portugal has been revoked, so it is no longer necessary to present it at the time of boarding."

Tomorrow when I return to Portugal I am not going to allow Easyjet to over-rule the official position.

Everything else still applies though. Vaccination certificates or alternatives. You can travel with any other infection or contagion of course.

Happy Holidays.

Airport delays?

Me being pedantic perhaps, but surely a delay is when something is supposed to happen at a certain time but does not, or when something is supposed to take a certain amount of time but takes longer?

As airports have no set time for how long us two legged cattle must stand, shuffle forward and moo while waiting to be processed, there are no delays.

Anyway, I shall be flying back to Faro myself later today and shall report tomorrow on my exicting travel experience.

So far, so good! Flying Easyjet Gatwick - Faro.

Train left Eastbourne 1306 arrived Gatwick 1401. Advance single ticket £2.70. Into station and immediate shuttle to North Terminal arrived 1408. Through Easyjet bag drop at 1423, no-one checking stuff asked for my vaccination certificate so look out! A short walk onto security, not very busy, through at 1435. I hour until flight gate is called. Flight allegedly on time.

More later.

I knew it was too goo to last! Everyone was on board at 1630, then we were held 40 minutes waiting for the water bearers to fill the aircraft's tanks. Finally took off at 1717, 47 minutes late. Arrival in Faro 1940, 15 minutes late. No problem at passport control, through the queue and out in ten minutes. Electronic gates not available. My bag as on the carousel before I got there, no customs check and I was in the arrivals hall waiting at 2005.

Several stag and hen groups on the flight which was 99% full.

The other passenger arriving a bit later wasn't so lucky, three flights from UK in rapid succession caused a wait of 25 minutes to clear immigration.

PS at Gatwick I was not asked to show my vaccination certificate until the final boarding check. Just suppose I had forgotten it or didn't think I needed one?

I forgot to mention that mask wearing was strictly enforced, in line with Portuguese law, the moment everyone stepped through the plane door.  People were told off for removing masks in flight.

Then of course on arrival not needed inside the terminal building, so off they came for the vast majority. Then of course back on again for the transfer to their hotel.

Cattle in transports have more rights than humans. They are not forced to stand for hours in long lines without food and water.

No problem at Faro this morning, at least with Easyjet. Arrived 0905 and was almost at the head of the queue. Only one flight this time rather than the three on my previous trip. Checkin opened promptly at 0930, everything followed without any waiting and I was airside at 0955.

In contrast there were huge crowds at Jet2.com and Ryanair.