Airlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border check system to be suspended during the peak summer holiday period, warning that some flights are leaving half full and passengers are facing queues of up to five hours.
In a joint letter to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the industry groups ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe and the International Air Transport Association said the situation had reached a critical point. “Passengers have already been forced to queue for extended periods outside terminal buildings and on exposed aprons because border control facilities cannot process arrivals quickly enough,” they wrote. “Airlines face half-empty planes at gate closing time, while passengers are stuck in border control queues.”
“Airlines and airports demand suspension of EU biometric border checks as queues hit five hours and planes leave half full.”
The groups said some planes had been forced to delay takeoff while waiting for passengers, while others had left without them. They called for an option to “completely suspend” checks whenever passenger volumes exceed the operational capacity of border control facilities during July and August, warning that the pressure on authorities, airports and airlines was “unsustainable”.
The system, which has been introduced gradually since last October, requires non-EU citizens to register their fingerprints and a photograph at their destination airport. Its rollout has faced significant problems across Europe. Greece has already suspended biometric checks for British travellers until September to prevent summer disruption. In May, French police temporarily suspended the extra checks at the port of Dover. Last week, the head of Rome’s airports said it would have to suspend the system for non-EU citizens to avoid a disaster over the summer.
European airports are expected to handle about 40 million more passengers in July and August than in the previous two months, raising fears of even longer queues. The industry groups warned that the delays were already hurting Europe’s reputation. “Some international travellers are reconsidering trips to Europe because of the prospect of excessive border delays,” they said. “This is undermining Europe’s reputation, European tourism and connectivity.”