IATA Warns of Six-Hour Eu Airport Border Check Delays
IATA warned on June 6 that eu airport border check delays could stretch to six hours at some European airports as the EU’s Entry/Exit System continued to bed in. Rafael Schvartzman said the disruption was already appearing in several countries, and the warning lands as summer travel builds across Europe.
The airline industry’s main trade body said routine passport checks that once took around 20 to 25 seconds now take about 90 seconds under the new system. At the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Schvartzman warned that queues of “three, four, five, six hours” were possible if staffing and technical issues are not addressed before the busiest weeks of the season.
Portugal, Spain and Italy
Schvartzman said, “We are already seeing delays and misconnections in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, and elsewhere.” In Spain, some of the longest delays were already recorded at airports serving holiday destinations popular with British travellers, including Alicante and Lanzarote. The warning points to a problem spread across multiple airports rather than a single border post.
The Entry/Exit System, introduced in April, replaces passport stamps with electronic records for non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area, including Britons travelling to France. IATA said the longer processing times are not just a nuisance at the checkpoint; they can ripple into missed onward connections when airports are running close to capacity.
Dover’s emergency provision
The system has already forced operational changes in the United Kingdom. In May, French border police at Dover invoked an emergency provision after queues stretched for several hours during the first major holiday weekend since the system came into force, and French authorities temporarily eased Entry/Exit System procedures. Biometric registration was not yet fully operational at Dover because some equipment was still being installed, so French officers were creating traveller records manually.
The Port of Dover had already warned that busy holiday periods could lead to further disruption while the system is rolled out. Britons who hold valid French residency cards are exempt from Entry/Exit System registration requirements, but Schvartzman’s warning shows that other non-EU travellers can still face longer waits at ports and airports where the new checks slow throughput.
September flexibility
IATA called on EU authorities to retain emergency flexibility measures beyond September. That request is aimed at preventing the sort of temporary easing used at Dover from disappearing just as the system is still bedding in, with the busiest summer weeks still ahead for airports already reporting delays.
