Warning to UK tourists over three-hour waits at EU airports
The European Union's new border control checks are causing waiting times of up to three hours and risk chaos at airports, according to an industry body. Airports Council International's European arm said airports in France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Portugal and Spain were especially impacted by the bloc's Schengen Entry-Exit System (EES), which was launched on October 12.
Airports Council International (ACI) urged Brussels to address the "mounting operational issues" plaguing the rollout of the scheme, which is due to be completed by April 10. Under EES, non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay have a photo taken of their face and/or their fingerprints scanned. Some data collected under EES can be registered in advance.
ACI stated that the scaling up of the scheme has resulted in airport border control processing times increasing by up to 70%, with waits of up to three hours during peak periods.
The airports group identified a series of issues with the scheme, including "regular" system failures, problems with self-service kiosks and automated border control gates not being available for EES processing.
ACI also says an "effective" app where travellers can register before setting out on their journeys is unavailable, and there aren't enough border guards to manage the scheme on the ground.
Currently, only 10% of travellers are required to register under the scheme, though this is due to rise.
Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, said "significant" discomfort is already being inflicted on travellers.
He added: "Unless all the operational issues we are raising today (Wednesday) are fully resolved within the coming weeks, increasing this registration threshold to 35% as of January 9 - as required by the EES implementation calendar - will inevitably result in much more severe congestion and systemic disruption for airports and airlines.
Mr Jankovec warned this would "possibly" involve serious safety hazards. He added: "We fully understand and support the importance of the EES and remain fully committed to its implementation.
"But the EES cannot be about mayhem for travellers and chaos at our airports. If the current operational issues cannot be addressed and the system stabilised by early January, we will need swift action from the European Commission and Schengen member states to allow additional flexibility in its rollout."
A European Commission spokesperson said member states have not reported or confirmed the three hour wait or 70% claim.
They said since its start, EES has operated largely without issues and any initial challenges typical of new systems have been effectively addressed.
The spokesperson said member states have exceeded the initial 10% registration threshold and surpassed the next threshold with more than 50% of estimated arrivals registered.
They said any concerns about potential issues at reaching the 35% threshold have been disprove and processing times have further improved with border guards gaining experience and procedures refined.
At all other times when queues have formed, the spokesperson said member states confirmed these were due to other factors, according to the Commission.
EES also allows for partial or full suspension of the system in exceptional circumstances.
The spokesperson said: "The Commission is monitoring very closely both the compliance with the legal bases and the operations of the EES at central level and the impact at the borders at national level."