British travellers heading to European holiday hotspots this summer face delays of up to six hours at passport control, the airline industry’s leading trade body has warned. Rafael Schvartzman, who serves as the International Air Transport Association’s (Iata) vice-president for Europe, has cautioned that the EU’s border system creates a “hard risk” of extensive waiting times that have already caused passengers to miss their flights.This marks the first peak holiday season since the EU introduced its Entry and Exit System, known as EES.The scheme requires travellers from outside the bloc to provide personal information, submit fingerprints and have their photograph captured, with all details verified upon departure.Speaking at Iata’s annual gathering, Mr Schvartzman highlighted inconsistent implementation across different locations.He noted that some destinations lack the necessary technology or infrastructure, while staffing levels at kiosks remain inadequate.”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,” he said.”We know for a fact there are many cases where people have lost flights or their connectivity.”Mr Schvartzman warned that the EU’s border system creates a ‘hard risk’ of extensive waiting times | GETTYThe disruption has already affected hundreds of passengers in recent months.During the Easter holidays, over 100 easyJet customers bound for Manchester were stranded at Milan Linate Airport following a three-hour queue at passport control.In May, a Ryanair service from Toulouse to London departed without 150 travellers who remained trapped in lengthy border queues.Budget carrier WizzAir has responded by advising customers to reach airports three hours ahead of UK-bound departures.
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The scheme requires travellers from outside the bloc to provide personal information, fingerprints and have their photograph taken | GETTYRyanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary made clear his airline would not hold flights for delayed passengers.”Ryanair takes every passenger that is in the boarding gate when the boarding goes out. Passengers miss their flight not because we’ve left them behind but because they are stuck in somebody’s passport queue,” he said.”We can’t afford to be coming back late and delay the next four, five or six flights that day.”Holiday hotspots including Lisbon, Lanzarote, Alicante and Mallorca have experienced some of the most severe problems.Ryanair’s chief executive Michael O’Leary made clear his airline would not hold flights for delayed passengers | PASome travellers who had previously registered under the system have reportedly been required to complete the process again.The EU has indicated that member states may temporarily suspend checks during peak periods until September, though many countries have not exercised this option.Mr Schvartzman explained that even when functioning optimally, the new system takes considerably longer than the previous passport stamping procedure.”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.Although the system affects all non-EU nationals, British citizens bear a disproportionate burden as the largest group of visitors to the bloc.”We have seen some states trying to make an exception for the British but it is an effect of Brexit but every passenger should be treated the same,” Mr Schvartzman said. Iata has urged that the suspension provisions remain available beyond September, warning of ongoing difficulties with the system.”The advice is simple – allow much more time at the airport than you might be used to,” Mr Schvartzman added.