Call to suspend new EU border system during busy holiday times

Airlines and airports have asked for the new EU biometric border check system to be paused during the busiest summer holiday period. They say some flights are leaving with many empty seats because passengers are stuck in queues of up to five hours for the new checks.

In a letter sent to Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, the airline and airport groups asked for the option to stop the checks. They are worried the situation will become much worse during the busy summer season.

Industry groups, including ACI Europe and the International Air Transport Association, warned that a critical point has been reached. They stated that passengers have already been made to queue for long periods outside terminals and on open areas because border control cannot process people fast enough.

As a result, airlines are seeing planes leave with many empty seats. Passengers are being left behind in border control queues, and some planes have had to delay their departures to wait for passengers.

The groups are asking the commission to allow airports to completely stop these checks in July and August whenever passenger numbers are too high for the border control facilities to manage effectively. They believe that border authorities, airports, and airlines are currently under too much pressure.

The new system requires travellers from outside the EU to provide fingerprints and a photograph upon arrival. However, its introduction has caused many problems. Greece has already decided to pause these biometric checks for British travellers until September to avoid problems during the summer holidays.

In May, French authorities temporarily stopped the extra checks at the port of Dover. Also, the head of Rome’s airports recently said the system might have to be suspended for non-EU citizens to prevent a disaster this summer.

The industry groups mentioned that some international travellers are thinking twice about visiting Europe because of the possibility of very long border delays. This, they say, is harming Europe's image, its tourism industry, and its transport connections. They feel the reputation of the European Union itself is at risk.

The letter also points out that even though the rules allow some flexibility, extremely long queues are still happening. The groups want this flexibility to continue after September, when current exceptions are planned to end, under special circumstances.

The organisations estimate that European airports will handle about 40 million more passengers in July and August compared to the previous two months. They urge the commission and member states to recognise the current difficult situation and prepare for what the air transport system will face in the coming weeks.

Finally, they suggested that pausing the new border checks should continue until there are enough staff to manage the system properly and the automatic machines are reliable enough.