ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe (A4E) have called on the European Commission and Schengen governments to make immediate operational and regulatory changes to the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), after border-control queues continued to disrupt airport operations. Waiting times routinely exceed two hours and have reached up to five hours in the most extreme peak-period cases, causing missed flights and connections across the Schengen area.
The associations, representing European airports and airlines, linked the delays to insufficient border-control staffing, unstable IT systems, limited use of self-service kiosks and automated border-control gates, and shortcomings in the Travel to Europe pre-registration app. The disruption is also increasing congestion in terminals and pressure on border guards, airport employees and airlines, nearly six months after the system’s full implementation.
Their six-point plan calls for the removal of duplicate verification, improved biometric checks, measures to prevent duplicate EES profiles, and a redesign of the Travel to Europe app and web portal. It also seeks faster and more harmonised automated border control for non-EU nationals, together with a permanent option for authorities to suspend biometric registration temporarily when queues become exceptionally long.
The proposals are directed at the European Commission and national governments and do not represent adopted changes to EU rules. ACI Europe and A4E support the EES’s border-security function but are seeking faster and more resilient procedures for eligible non-EU nationals entering or leaving the Schengen area.