Lisbon... Almost missed my plane

[Redtravel]

We had an 11am flight put of Lisbon. Driver picked is up at 8 am. Drive was about 10 minutes to the airport. We did not wait in lines. My spouse is disabled. We waited an extemely long time for wheel chair even though it had been preordered. Security was high. We were separated and questioned many times. At the xray machine, my spouse had to remove his leg braces and shoes. It meant completely disrobing. The wheelchair only went to a waiting place in the terminal. A attendant stayed with us. There were many people waiting for the cart to transport them to the gate. On.y 3 people were taken at a time. 2 carts were being used. The ride took 30 minutes. I sent my spouse on the cart. No room for me. I walked and walked. Some movable platforms. It was the longest walk that I have ever taken in any airport. Makes JFK and Frankfurt look small. Luckily my spouse was there before me......able to let the gate personnel know that I was coming. At the gate, the security questioning happened again. If you are flying out of Lisbon, allow more than 3.5 hours to get to the gate.

[maryann ns]

Yikes! I am sorry you had to go through that and thanks for the warning.

[Dom Peres]

And what was the exact day that long walk happened?

 

Probably a day with strikes? Probably a day with special security measures?

 

Since the airport has a service for disabled passengers that is very odd.

[Steirisch]

Oh, what an ordeal! Some airports just don't get it. After a horrible experience coming back from our most recent cruise, Chicago O'Hare is now on my "do not connect through" list, along with Frankfurt and Heathrow.

[whatnot]

We were flying out of Lisbon on September 11. There were no strikes that day. They were the day before on September 10 when the subway was on strike and the skies dumped just as we left our cruise. No taxis anywhere! What a mess!.

 

Security was very high on Sept 11 and probably the day before. We misjudged the time we needed to get to our flight too. It was a lot farther to our gate than we thought and the security and immigration lines were VERY long.

 

Therefore even if you are not handicapped, you need more time than you think at the Lisbon Airport.

[Dom Peres]

Yes, strikes are made so everything is running as usual. Since only 5 or 6 individuals use the subway everyday, even less at morning rush hours, you should expect many taxis with no activity whatsoever. Of course, we all know that Portuguese people don't work at all. And September 11 is a normal day too for airport security!

Besides, you can expect an increase of security measures at the airport because of some particular events. And like i said before,the airports has special measures for the handicapped. If anything went wrong, complain to the airport.

 

Anyway, i'm starting to feel this is just a thread to ridicule things so i'm out of here.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Dom Peres

[UKBayern]

We were flying out of Lisbon on September 11.

 

You are giving the answer yourself why airport security was extra high on that particular special date. Would have been the same in any airport in the world on 9/11.

Edited September 14, 2014 by UKBayern