EUROPE’S airports and airlines are calling on the EU to pause its controversial EES system amid warnings it could cause queues of up to five hours this summer. 

In an open letter addressed to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Europe’s aviation bosses stated the situation had ‘reached a critical point,’ adding they would like to ‘revert to standard Schengen border code checks’ when needed.

The letter, signed by IATA, ACI Europe and A4E, said passengers at both large and smaller airports were being forced to wait ‘for extended periods outside terminal buildings … because border control facilities cannot process arrivals quickly enough.’

The request comes as airports face ‘the busiest period of the year,’ with the peak summer months expected to bring ‘approximately 40 million more passengers than during the previous two months’. 

Although flight schedules are published a year in advance, the letter further warns that airlines still ‘face half-empty planes at gate closing time, while passengers are stuck in border control queues.’ 

READ MORE: Europe’s airports chief tells politicians to ‘stop pretending EES is working’ and warns of ‘complete collapse’ as tourists face summer queues to enter Spain

The Schengen Entry Exit System has been causing long queues and travel complications across Europe since it was fully rolled out in April.  

The EES replaces passport stamps with a digital record of entries, exits, and refusals of entry.

It also collects travellers’ biometric data, including photographs and fingerprints.

However, malfunctioning kiosks and understaffing have led to severe disruption during peak travel periods, with reports of lengthy queues and missed flights since its introduction.

READ MORE: Nearly four in ten Brits would pass on a holiday to Spain over ‘three-hour’ EES border queues, major study warns

In their letter to von der Leyen, aviation bosses are now calling for the ‘flexibility needed to completely suspend EES’ when ‘passenger volumes exceed the operational capacity of border control facilities.’

While stressing their ‘full support’ for the EES system, they said their focus is on ‘the millions of passengers who rely on Europe’s air transport system every day.’

Since the start of the programme, more than 45 million border crossings have been logged across Europe.

However, the system is ‘creating severe operational consequences, disrupting passengers and placing border authorities, airports, and airlines under unsustainable pressure,’ the letter adds.

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