European airlines and airport operators are demanding urgent changes to the European Union’s new biometric border-control system after passengers faced queues of up to five hours and some flights departed without travellers still trapped at immigration.
Industry groups have warned that the disruption could worsen sharply during July and August, when European airports are expected to handle around 40 million more passengers than during the previous two months.
The concerns centre on the EU’s Entry/Exit System, known as EES, which records the arrival and departure of non-EU nationals crossing the external borders of the Schengen area.
The system replaces manual passport stamping with digital registration. Travellers must provide personal details, a facial image and fingerprints when first entering the Schengen zone. The information is intended to strengthen border security, identify people who exceed the permitted 90-day stay within a 180-day period and provide authorities with more accurate records of movements into and out of Europe.
However, aviation organisations say the system has placed severe pressure on airports, airlines and border-control services. They blame unreliable automated kiosks, insufficient staffing, limited terminal space and inadequate processing facilities for creating lengthy delays.
In a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Airports Council International Europe, Airlines for Europe and the International Air Transport Association called for greater flexibility to suspend biometric registration when passenger numbers exceed an airport’s processing capacity.
The three organisations collectively represent hundreds of airlines and airports across Europe.
They said passengers had been left queueing outside terminal buildings and, in some cases, on exposed airport aprons. Some airlines reportedly delayed departures while waiting for travellers to clear immigration, while other aircraft were forced to leave with empty seats after passengers failed to reach their gates before boarding closed.
The industry is asking for airports to be allowed to return temporarily to conventional passport procedures during periods of serious congestion. It also wants a permanent emergency mechanism that would permit targeted suspensions of EES checks when exceptional operational problems develop.
The first biometric registration takes longer because travellers must submit their fingerprints and facial photograph. Later journeys should be processed more quickly because the passenger’s data will already be stored in the system.
Even so, aviation representatives say regional airports, ports and major international hubs are all experiencing difficulties. The severity of the disruption varies depending on staffing levels, the number of available kiosks, border-control capacity and the preparedness of national authorities.
Visitors from the United Kingdom, United States and other non-EU countries are among those most affected because they must pass through external Schengen border controls.
Industry leaders have warned that continued uncertainty could discourage international visitors from travelling to Europe, damaging tourism and weakening the continent’s reputation for efficient and dependable transport links.
The European Commission has defended the system, saying it is operating effectively at most airports. Brussels argues that many long queues are also caused by existing problems, including staff shortages, poor infrastructure and large numbers of flights arriving within short periods.
EU officials say current rules already allow some checks to be reduced when congestion becomes severe. However, airlines and airport operators insist those safeguards are insufficient.
They want broader powers to suspend biometric processing until airports have enough personnel, automated kiosks are operating reliably, and a delayed passenger pre-registration application is fully available.
The European border agency Frontex has previously indicated that it could take between one and two years for the system to operate smoothly across all participating countries.
The European Commission is expected to hold further talks with aviation representatives as pressure grows for action before the busiest weeks of the summer travel season.
