In a quest to avoid long airport queues, Portugal has begun to allow UK passport holders to use their e-gates – usually reserved for EU members.

The travel rules changed on 31 Jan 2020 – meaning UK passport holders should be treated as any other country arriving from non EU destinations. This means manual checks for immigration rather than the electronic gates.

Portugal has decided to allow UK passport holders to use their E-Lanes in mainland Portugal and Madeira. The most popular airports being Faro (for the Algarve), Lisbon and Funchal (Madeira).

According to the Telegraph, British travellers make up the majority of international visitors to Portugal. 

Portugal may have set the tone for other EU destinations, to ignore Brexit rules and give British travellers a faster entry into their countries. Popular holiday destinations such as Spain and France are quite likely to take note.