Airline bosses have called for urgent action over border delays caused by the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), saying passengers are facing queues of up to five hours.
In a joint open letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Airlines for Europe (A4E) Managing Director Ourania Georgoutsakou, ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec and IATA Senior VP External Affairs Thomas Reynaert they said they recognise the importance of the EES but warned: “Today we have reached a critical point.”
They have called for the immediate introduction of flexible measures, including the temporary suspension of EES where passenger volumes exceed border control capacity.
The letter says: “The current implementation of the EES is creating severe operational consequences disrupting passengers and putting border authorities, airports and airlines under unsustainable pressure. We therefore urge your immediate intervention before the situation deteriorates further during the peak summer travel season.
“Since the full rollout of the EES in April, waiting times at border control have increased significantly, now reaching up to five hours during peak traffic periods.
“These delays are impacting millions of passengers entering the Schengen Area, including families travelling with young children, elderly passengers and persons with reduced mobility.
“At the same time, airports and airlines are experiencing growing operational disruption, including flight delays and missed connections and increasing pressure on frontline staff.”
The letter urges the EC and EU member states to ‘take stock of the reality of the current situation and of what our air transport system will face over the coming weeks’.
“Without additional flexibility, existing challenges will inevitably intensify,” the letter says.
“As representatives of Europe’s aviation sector, we have a responsibility to warn that this would result in a significant worsening of an already very difficult situation for passengers.”
Read the full letter here.
Last week, ACI Europe President Stefan Schulte, who is also Chairman and CEO of Fraport AG, which owns Frankfurt Airport, said airport bosses are losing sleep over EES and he didn’t know how they will cope in the coming weeks.
