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EES queues for UK trips
British holidaymakers are being urged to arrive at European airports three hours before their flight home as long queues are expected from new border checks under the EU Entry Exit System (EES).
“- Published British holidaymakers should arrive at European airports three hours before their flight home departs due to lengthy queues caused by new border checks, the UK boss of budget airline Wizz Air has warned”
Yvonne Moynihan, the UK boss of Wizz Air, told the BBC that delays getting through passport control at some European airports had caused some passengers to miss return or connecting flights.
The BBC said the EES requires travellers to register fingerprints, with information verified when people leave, and that since October almost 80 million entries and exits have been registered and 35,000 refusals of entry recorded.
The BBC also reported that from 10 April the EES is meant to be fully in use at borders of the Schengen free movement zone, including airports, while Greece has effectively suspended biometric checks at its borders for British citizens to prevent summer disruption.
What Moynihan says to do
Moynihan told the BBC that the impact of the new checks was "fragmented across Europe" even though there had been some "seamless travel".
She said there had been long queues at "usual hotspots such as Spain, Portugal, France" and added that when she travelled to Mallorca for half term she encountered no queues thanks to extra staff and "a significant amount of [EES] kiosks".
Moynihan warned that because EES information has to be verified when people leave, travellers face the risk of queues before flights back to the UK, saying "Because there is another passport check...that's where we see that people have, again, experienced longer waiting times than anticipated."
She said usual advice is to get to the airport two hours ahead of a flight, but "in these circumstances, we are advising three hours" and advised anyone taking a connecting flight to allow "a number of hours" between flights in case of border queues.
Airports, commission, and insurance
ACI Europe told the BBC it surveyed 45 airports in 20 EU states earlier this week and found results suggesting EES was causing queues of up to three and a half hours, with more airports reporting excessive waiting times despite the "extensive use of partial suspension of EES."
“Même si ce n’est pas courant, des passagers aériens ont manqué leurs correspondances en raison de délais de contrôle prolongés aux frontières de l’UE”
The BBC reported that ACI Europe expected the situation "to deteriorate further" and "become unmanageable" as passenger volumes increased towards the summer peak, and it wanted technical issues such as "instability of the central IT system and national interfaces" addressed along with border staffing levels.
A European Commission spokesperson told the BBC EES was working well at "almost all border crossing points," and the Commission said it was up to member states to ensure EES was properly implemented and they should provide enough border guards.
Euronews added that while passengers have rights when delays at EU borders lead to a missed connection, Squaremouth’s Chrissy Valdez said delays caused by EES have "little chances" of being covered by travel insurance unless the policy treats immigration or security delays as "unforeseen" events.
