Call to suspend new EU border system in peak holiday period as planes leave half full | Travel & leisure

Airlines and airports have called for the new EU biometric border control system to be suspended over the busy summer holiday period, warning that some flights left half full and passengers struggled in queues for up to five hours.

In a letter to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, airlines and airports requested the option to suspend checks under the system due to fears that the situation would worsen during the busy summer season.

“We have reached a critical point,” said industry groups ACI Europe, which represents airports, and Airlines 4 Europe and the International Air Transport Association, which represents airlines. “Passengers already have to wait in long queues outside terminal buildings and on open aprons because border control facilities cannot process arrivals quickly enough.

“Airlines are faced with half-empty planes at gate closing time, while passengers are stuck in border control queues.”

Some planes had to delay takeoff while waiting for passengers, with groups saying queues were up to five hours during peak hours, while some planes had to delay takeoff while waiting for passengers. I had to leave the passengers behind.

The groups called on the commission to allow airports to “completely suspend” checks when “passenger volumes exceed the operational capacity of border control facilities” in July and August.

The groups said border authorities, airports and airlines were “under unsustainable pressure” and called for “immediate intervention before the situation worsens during the peak summer travel season.”

The system, which has been gradually implemented since last October, requires non-EU citizens to register with fingerprints and photographs at the airport they will go to.

However, there have been significant problems in implementing it, with Greece suspending biometric checks on British travelers until September to avoid disruption over the summer.

In May, French police temporarily suspended extra checks at the port of Dover, and last week the head of Rome’s airports said it had to suspend the system for non-EU citizens to avoid a disaster in the summer.

“Some international travelers are reconsidering travel to Europe due to the possibility of extreme border delays,” industry groups said. “This undermines Europe’s reputation, European tourism and connectivity in particular. The reputation of the European Union and trust in the regulatory framework… are at stake.”

Despite rules giving countries some flexibility to bypass some checks, “excessive queues” were still forming, the letter said.

The groups also said there should be flexibility to continue suspending checks from September, when rules allowing some flexibility to bypass some checks will be phased out “under clearly defined exceptional circumstances”.

European airports are expected to handle about 40 million more passengers in July and August than in the previous two months, the groups said.

“The Commission and member states must assess the reality of the current situation and what our air transport system will face in the coming weeks,” the letter said. warning was made.

The groups said it was necessary to suspend new border checks until there were enough staff to make the system work and the automated kiosks were reliable enough.