Airline and airport associations have warned the EU that if the challenges with the Entry-Exit System (EES) are not addressed, it will cause delays of up to four hours during the peak northern summer period.
Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) have written a letter to the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration, urging the European Commission to allow member states to partially or totally suspend their EES implementation until the end of October.
According to the associations, participating airports are currently experiencing delays of up to two hours at their border controls, as they attempt to meet the mandate that is progressively increasing the percentage of all arriving third nationals that must be registered with the system.
In the letter, the associations highlight three critical issues that have compounded EES delays: chronic border control understaffing; unresolved technology issues, especially with border automation; and limited uptake of the pre-registration app by Schengen nationals to register.
The airports and airlines warned the EU Commissioner that unless immediate action was taken to resolve these critical issues, mandatory EES registrations for all border crossings during the peak summer season in July and August, could result in waiting times of up to four hours or more.
“There is a complete disconnect between the perception of the EU institutions that EES is working well, and the reality, which is that non-EU travellers are experiencing massive delays and inconvenience. This must come to an end immediately,” Olivier Jankovec, DG of ACI Europe, Ourania Georgoutsakou, MD of A4E, and Thomas Reynaert, SVP of External Affairs of IATA, said in the statement.
“We need to be realistic about what will happen during the peak summer months, when traffic at Europe’s airports doubles. The roll-out of EES must be flexible to react to operational realities. This is an absolute prerequisite for its success and for safeguarding the reputation of the EU as an efficient, welcoming and desirable destination.”
