A new Entry-Exit System (EES) in the European Union is causing hours-long lines and major headaches for international travelers at airports across the bloc.
The system’s rocky rollout, which fully launched in April, should be put on hold for the peak summer travel months and be rethought, according to the head of Europe’s airport trade group.
"We urgently need full flexibility for border control authorities to suspend the EES whenever needed to avoid further chaos, along with a rethink of those processes," said Stefan Schulte, president of ACI Europe, according to a BBC report.
Travelers have missed flights as they wait to be processed by the new system, which requires all visitors from outside the EU to submit biometric data like a facial scan and fingerprints.
The EES rollout has gone smoothly at some EU airports, while at others, the situation has wreaked havoc on arriving and departing travelers.
“Passengers are queueing for hours at peak traffic times and I just do not know how we will be able to cope in the coming weeks with the expected increase in traffic," said Schulte, who also runs the company that owns Frankfurt airport, one of the EU’s busiest hubs.
The system has been causing disarray at major airports, with lines lasting more than three hours in some cases. Travelers should be prepared for waits of up to six hours this summer, according to one estimate from aviation body IATA.
The longest wait times typically follow popular windows for international flights to depart and arrive, but they can also be unpredictable.
Amid the issues, the European Commission has ruled that EES implementation can be suspended at some airports until September.
But that might not be enough to salvage the system, according to Schulte, who told the BBC that peak summer travel lasts well past early September, after which, airports could see a "complete collapse of the system.”
EU politicians should "stop pretending... that EES is working just fine. It is not," Schulte said.
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