Europe’s airport industry has issued a stark warning over the EU’s new digital border-control system, accusing political leaders of downplaying severe disruption as passengers endure hours-long queues and miss flights.
In his most scathing attack to date, Stefan Schulte, president of airport trade body ACI Europe, said the performance of the Entry-Exit System, known as EES, was causing deep concern among aviation executives.
Politicians must “stop pretending that EES is working just fine”, he said. “It is not.”
The system requires most travellers from outside the European Union to register biometric information, including facial images and fingerprints, when entering participating European countries. The data is then checked when they leave and during subsequent crossings of the Schengen area’s external borders.
Although the technology has operated relatively smoothly in some countries, airports elsewhere have reported serious congestion, lengthy passport-control delays and passengers failing to reach departure gates in time.
Speaking at an aviation industry event in Prague, Schulte said airport leaders were increasingly alarmed by the pressure building at border checkpoints.
“Passengers are queueing for hours at peak traffic times, and I simply do not know how we will cope in the coming weeks as traffic increases,” he said.
Schulte, who also leads the company that operates Frankfurt Airport, called for border authorities to be given greater freedom to suspend biometric checks whenever queues become unmanageable.
“We urgently need full flexibility for border-control authorities to suspend EES whenever necessary to prevent further chaos, together with a fundamental rethink of the process,” he said.
“This is about treating travellers with respect and decency, while protecting Europe’s reputation as an efficient and welcoming destination.”
Passengers left behind
The warning follows a series of incidents in which travellers have missed flights after becoming trapped in border-control queues.
Earlier this month, dozens of Ryanair passengers were stranded in Athens when their flight to London Luton departed without them.
Ryanair blamed delays at the border, while Athens airport said congestion had been caused by “additional processing requirements”. Neither organisation explicitly confirmed that EES was responsible.
However, the incident was the latest involving passengers being left behind following the introduction of the new controls.
In April, travellers scheduled to fly from Milan Bergamo and Milan Linate to Manchester also missed their departures after encountering problems at passport control.
Wizz Air has previously advised British holidaymakers to arrive at European airports at least three hours before their return flights because of the risk of extended queues under the new procedures.
Warning of possible system failure
The European Commission has permitted temporary suspension of EES checks in certain circumstances until September.
However, Schulte said the decision to pause the system rests with national governments and border authorities, rather than airport operators. That can result in queues continuing to grow while officials decide whether intervention is justified.
He also warned that Europe’s peak travel season extends well beyond the beginning of September.
Without urgent changes, he said, the industry could eventually face the “complete collapse of the system”.
The European Commission, which oversees EES, has been approached for comment.
Confusion over possible exemptions
The growing pressure has also fuelled uncertainty over whether some countries could exempt British travellers from biometric checks during the summer season.
Greece’s tourism minister, Olga Kefalogianni, previously said visitors should not be burdened by excessive bureaucracy and suggested British passengers would avoid biometric processing when travelling to Greece.
However, the Greek Foreign Ministry later disputed claims that any formal exemption had been agreed.
There have also been reports that Portugal and Italy were considering similar arrangements for British nationals. The European Commission has said no such exemptions are currently planned.
For airports and airlines, the concern is no longer merely that the system is inconvenient. Industry leaders fear that, unless governments act quickly, escalating queues and missed flights could turn Europe’s busiest travel period into a continent-wide border crisis.
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