The head of Berlin Airport has warned that the EU’s new digital border system is causing long delays for non-EU travellers, with waiting times at one of Berlin Airport’s terminals, used by Ryanair and Wizz Air, regularly stretching from one to two hours.
As peak holiday travel gets underway in the summer, the situation threatens to become unbearable.
The delays are linked to the EU’s new Entry-Exit System (EES), which became fully operational in April. The system requires travellers from outside the EU to register biometric data, including fingerprints and facial images, when entering most European countries. Their details are then checked again when they leave.
The EES is intended to modernize border security and eventually speed up travel, but airports and airlines say its rollout has been plagued by technical and operational problems.
The European Commission says it is willing to provide additional support.
While some airports have introduced the system successfully, others have reported significant queues at passport control, particularly during busy travel periods. Some passengers say they have even missed flights because of the delays.
One of the biggest problems is the lack of a unified system across the EU, and a multitude of subsystems. However, the UK has also experienced difficulties. At the Port of Dover, where French border checks are carried out before travellers cross the Channel, the new technology has yet to be activated.
A new processing area equipped with 84 kiosks for fingerprint and facial recognition has been built, but remains unused because the French authorities have not been able to activate the required technology.
Under the EES, digital records linked to travellers’ passports track when non-EU nationals, including British and American citizens, enter and leave the Schengen area.
However, industry groups including Airlines UK and Airlines for America say the rollout has been inconsistent. They have urged the European Commission and member states to introduce contingency measures, warning that the current timetable may not be realistic with peak summer travel approaching.
Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy also criticised the implementation of the system, describing its continued rollout as difficult to understand when it is “clearly not being implemented in a robust manner”. He said temporarily suspending EES checks at locations where the technology is not ready would create a much better experience for holidaymakers.
Meanwhile, airport industry group ACI Europe has written to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, warning that border control waits have reached as long as five hours during peak periods and could worsen as summer travel intensifies.
The organization reported that airlines risk departing with empty seats because passengers remain trapped in border control queues.
A European Commission spokesperson said every effort is being made to reduce the impact of the new system on travellers from outside the EU.
According to the Commission, disruption remains limited at most EU airports. It said the worst delays have occurred where member states have failed to provide enough border officers, infrastructure or automated equipment to support the new system.
