Major Airports Disable Entry/Exit System - Addressing Passenger Queue Concerns
Travelers are being exempted from facial scans and fingerprint collection whenever lines get too long. The EU’s new biometric border control system is causing such long delays for summer travelers that some airports are resorting to a simple solution: turn it off when they are overwhelmed with arriving travelers. The quick fix, which is allowed under EU regulations, was not what was envisioned when the Entry/Exit System was introduced in October and went fully into effect on April 10. And yet, many airports are doing just that.
Airline CEOs, border authorities and airport officials said biometric checks are suspended when border checkpoints become overloaded at other hubs, including Frankfurt, Brussels and Milan.
The EES system applies to non-EU citizens entering the 29-country Schengen area. Instead of going to a border agent to have their passports stamped, passengers must use an EES kiosk to give their fingerprints and have their photograph taken - which will be kept on file for three years - but if these do not work, then the information must be taken manually.
Then they go either to the e-passport gates or to border agents to check in. The goal is to keep track of whether visas have overstayed.
Many airports, ports, road border crossings and rail terminals have adapted to the new requirements, but places with many tourists have seen queues lasting hours. Under pressure from the travel industry, the Commission decided on an exemption for the summer season that runs until 6 September. The regulation includes the possibility to temporarily suspend the recording of biometric data in case of exceptional circumstances during the summer.
The SEE was approved in 2017, but was delayed for years because border authorities were not willing to handle the additional workload.
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