Ryanair is demanding that the European Union scrap its controversial new immigration border checks until September to avoid ‘chaos’ breaking out at airports across Europe during the busy summer holiday period. The call came just hours after a lobby group representing Europe’s airports warned that passport lines had now reached 5+ hours at some airports.
The EU fully rolled out its biometric ‘Entry/Exit System’ (EES) system in April despite warnings from across the airline industry that it wasn’t ready and that pushing ahead threatened significant delays, cancellations, and mayhem at airports across Europe.
EES brings together the border controls of 29 European countries into a single computer system, with the aim of replacing the continent’s antiquated passport stamp system to track how long ‘third country’ nationals have spent in the European Union.
Passengers without an EU passport must have their biometrics captured, including fingerprints and a facial photograph, before being allowed to cross the border. The process takes significantly longer than the old passport stamping system, and huge immigration lines have been reported at a number of airports.
After a lengthy rollout process, the EU decided to switch on the new system in April despite warnings that EES would cause chaos. Sure enough, long lines were quickly reported, and within weeks, lawmakers had to introduce ‘flexible’ measures which allowed individual governments to suspend the collection of biometrics in a bid to keep lines moving.
Lobby group ACI Europe, which represents European airports, had first feared that passport control queues could reach up to three hours, but even those worst fears have been surpassed, with lines now growing to five hours+ at peak times.
ACI Europe said the situation had now reached a “critical point” and that immediate intervention was required before it deteriorates even further.
On Thursday, Ryanair warned of an impending ‘travel nightmare’ unless the EU suspends the EES system until September.
“As schools break up and Europe enters the busiest travel period of the year, it is clear that EES is still not ready for peak summer volumes,” warned the airline’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon.
“Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights, and unnecessary stress at airports this summer.”
Some European countries have already taken matters into their own hands, with Greece suspending EES until after the summer travel rush, although the situation is far different in Spain, Italy, and France, according to Ryanair.
Ryanair has been criticized for not waiting for passengers stuck in lengthy passport lines for departure, but the airline is urging its customers to get to the airport early to avoid being stranded.
Your questions, answered
EES rules apply to third-country nationals, which are essentially any citizen of a state that is not a member of the EU, nor a citizen of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland.
That means that if you are from countries like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia, the EES rules apply to you.
Every time a third-country national arrives in the EU, they must register their biometrics at a self-service kiosk. The kiosk will normally ask for either a photograph of the traveller’s face or their fingerprints. In some cases, both a face photograph and fingerprints are recorded. Once the biometrics are captured, the traveller must then line up to see an immigration officer who will make the final determination as to whether the traveller is allowed to enter the country.
The Entry/Exit System is meant to significantly improve border security across Europe. Rather than having seperate computer systems, all EU countries now share a single system to record the entry and exits of third-country nationals. This means that border guards should be able to better identify overstayers and criminals more quickly and prevent them from entering the EU.
There are two reasons why EES is causing very lengthy lines at border control points. The first is that the biometric capture process can take some time, and there simply aren’t enough automated kiosks to service everyone at peak periods at some airports. The second reason is that passengers still need to line up to see an immigration officer.
This is a real sticking point and one that the EU hasn’t properly answered. Ideally, third-country nationals should be able to have their biometrics captured and then pass through an automated border control gate, significantly speeding up the whole process.
Some countries have allowed third-country nationals to use e-gates, although an immigration officer still has to approve the passenger’s entry.
