Airlines and airports have called on the EU to suspend the new biometric border control system during the peak summer tourist season, stating that some flights are departing half-empty and passengers are queuing for up to five hours. This is reported by The Guardian, writes UNN.
Details
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, airlines and airports requested the ability to suspend checks within this system due to concerns that the situation will significantly worsen in the summer.
"We have reached a critical point," said industry organizations ACI Europe, representing airports, Airlines for Europe, and the International Air Transport Association, representing airlines. "Passengers are already being forced to stand in long queues outside terminals and in open areas, as border control cannot keep up with processing arrivals."
"Airlines are facing half-empty planes at the time of boarding closure, while passengers are stuck in queues at border control."
Some planes are forced to delay departure, waiting for passengers, and during peak hours queues reach up to five hours. In other cases, passengers are simply left behind.
The organizations called on the European Commission to allow airports to "fully suspend" checks "whenever passenger volume exceeds the operational capacity of border control" in July and August.
They stated that border services, airports, and airlines are "under unsustainable pressure" and called for "immediate intervention before the situation worsens further during the peak summer travel season."
The system, which has been gradually implemented since October last year, requires non-EU citizens to register by providing fingerprints and a photo at the arrival airport. However, implementation has been accompanied by significant problems: Greece temporarily suspended biometric checks for British travelers until September to avoid summer delays.
In May, French police temporarily halted additional checks at the Port of Dover, and last week the head of Rome's airports stated that the system would have to be suspended for non-EU citizens to avoid a summer "catastrophe."
"Some international travelers are already reconsidering their trips to Europe due to the prospect of excessive border delays," the industry organizations noted. "This harms Europe's reputation, tourism, and connectivity."
Despite the rules allowing countries some flexibility and partial bypassing of checks, "excessive queues" still occur.
The organizations also called for maintaining the ability to suspend checks after September, when the current flexibility rules are to be gradually phased out.
European airports are expected to handle approximately 40 million more passengers in July and August than in the previous two months.
The letter emphasizes that the European Commission and member states must "assess the real situation" and what the aviation system will face in the coming weeks.
The organizations stated that the ability to suspend new border checks is necessary until there is sufficient staff and until automated systems become reliable enough.