British travellers have been warned of queues up to six hours long at European airports this summer.
Rafael Schvartzman, the vice-president for Europe at the International Air Transport Association (Iata), said the EU’s new border system meant a “hard risk” of long waiting times and missed flights.
Delays and missed flight connections have already been seen in European countries, including Portugal, Spain and Italy, following the full rollout of the entry-exit system (EES) in April.
The digital border management for all “third-country nationals” to the Schengen Area requires fingerprints and facial biometrics upon first entry.
Schvartzman told the Iata Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: “What we are seeing is a very hard risk of really challenging times or waiting times, talking about expectations of three, four, five, six hours, which is unacceptable,” reported The Times.
According to the Iata vice president, instead of “delivering practical reform, aviation is being treated as a political football”.
He called on European states to ensure that borders are manned sufficiently, flight schedules are known well in advance, electronic kiosks and gates are operational, and to proactively suspend EES checks before queues get too long.
“Without EES, it takes between 20 and 25 seconds to process a passenger. With EES, we are talking about 90 seconds and on top of that, you still have issues with technology, you can imagine what the breaking effect would be”, he added.
Schvartzman told passengers: “The advice is simple, allow much more time at the airport than you might usually. Until EES is working smoothly, arriving two to three hours before departures and getting airside as quickly as possible is a prudent approach.”
Last week, Wizz Air told British travellers to arrive at European airports three hours before their flight home departs as post-Brexit EU border checks continue to cause lengthy queues.
Yvonne Moynihan, managing director of Wizz Air UK, said lengthy delays at passport control due to EEShad caused some passengers to miss return or connecting flights.
Wizz Air told The Independent: “We encourage our UK customers travelling home from Europe to arrive at the airport three hours ahead of their departure time, and to ensure they are prepared for border control procedures before travelling, as this can help reduce the risk of missing their flights.”
Read more: Why Wizz Air’s advice for beating EU entry-exit airport chaos is useless for many passengers
