EU's new border control system creates chaos at airports

The aviation sector has warned the European Commission that the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES) is causing multi-hour queues at airports and planes are departing without all their passengers. Industry associations are calling for controls to be temporarily suspended in July and August. The European Commission says the system is functioning well.

The European aviation sector has sent a letter to Ursula von der Leyen warning that the EU's new border control system is causing major disruptions at airports. Airport associations and airlines are demanding that the European Commission allow controls to be temporarily suspended during the summer period.

System creates seemingly endless queues

The Entry/Exit System (EES) was introduced in October last year. It requires third-country nationals entering the Schengen area to undergo biometric registration, provide fingerprints and have a photo taken. However, frequent malfunctions of self-service kiosks are causing long queues, and border control points are unable to process passenger flows quickly enough.

"Passengers have to wait for long periods at border control points, which means aircraft depart half-empty because passengers simply don't make it through security before the gates close," states the aviation sector's letter to the European Commission.

Aviation sector demands flexibility

Industry associations are requesting permission from the European Commission to suspend controls entirely in July and August when passenger flows exceed border control capacity. From September onwards, they are seeking flexible approaches in exceptional circumstances. According to the sector, flexibility is necessary until airports have sufficient staff, self-service kiosks are reliable and a mobile app for pre-registration is fully deployed.

Aviation organisations highlighted that European airports serve approximately 40 million additional passengers in July and August compared to the previous two months. "Many foreign tourists are considering abandoning European travel, fearing lengthy border delays. This is particularly damaging to Europe's reputation, tourism and transport connectivity," warn industry representatives.

Commission: system is working well

The European Commission has not yet formally responded to the letter. Last week, a Commission spokesperson confirmed that "the Entry/Exit System is fully operational in all Schengen countries and is working well", and that "the rules provide the necessary flexibility to achieve smooth border crossings".

The spokesperson added that "long waiting times are mostly not caused by EES itself, but by pre-existing factors such as staff shortages, infrastructure constraints and flights being concentrated at certain times of day".

Although existing rules allow countries certain flexibility and the option to waive certain types of checks, this possibility is set to gradually disappear in September. The aviation sector is warning that in such a situation, what is at stake is "the reputation of the European Union and trust in its legal framework".