British holidaymakers flying to and from European airports this summer could face waits of up to six hours, a transport boss has warned.
New EU border checks causing delays
The European Union's new border checks are a 'hard risk' of long waiting times and missed flights, according to Rafael Schvartzman, the vice-president for Europe at the International Air Transport Association (Iata), the airline trade body.
Schvartzman told the Iata Annual General Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that passengers are facing 'unacceptable' waits, The Times reports. He said: '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 added: 'We know for a fact there are many cases where people have lost flights or their connectivity.'
In April the Entry/Exit System was rolled out across the Schengen area. It requires 'third country nationals', including Brits, to register their biometric data such as fingerprints and photographs at the border, creating a digital record.
Passengers missing flights
But the extra checks have resulted in long waits for many at the EU border, with some passengers even missing their flights. In April around 100 passengers missed their Manchester-bound easyJet flight from Milan due to delays at passport control.
Schvartzman explained that places were implementing the technology differently and that some didn't have the right technology or infrastructure in place, and that kiosks were understaffed. He said that even if the EES worked perfectly it still takes longer than passport stamping.
He said: '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.'
Impact on British travellers
Although all citizens from third-party countries are affected by EES, Brits make up the largest number of visitors to the EU so they are adversely impacted. He cited how some states have tried to make exceptions for UK travellers, which has been the case in Cyprus, but he added that 'it is an effect of Brexit but every passenger should be treated the same.'
The European Commission does allow for the EES to be temporarily suspended during periods of congestion and Iata called for this policy to remain in place beyond September. Schvartzman advised passengers to 'allow much more time to the airport than you might be used to.'
Advice for holidaymakers
The boss of Wizz Air previously warned that holidaymakers should arrive three hours before their flight departing from European airports. However, it's worth noting that bag drop and check-in desks usually open two hours before departure, so this approach is only possible if you have hand luggage only.
