The European Union’s new Entry-Exit System (EES) for biometric border checks is causing severe operational disruption at major airports, with managers in Rome threatening to suspend the system to avert what they describe as a looming ‘disaster’ during the summer peak. Since the system became fully operational on 10 April, passengers from outside the Schengen area have faced queues of up to six hours at hubs including Frankfurt, Athens and Rome Fiumicino, leading to missed flights and growing alarm across the aviation sector.

According to Aeroporti di Roma CEO Marco Troncone, the current registration process is ‘incompatible with the peak volumes we will have to face,’ and temporarily bypassing the checks is the only way to prevent chaos. Stefan Schulte, president of Airports Council International Europe, which represents over 600 airports, told the BBC that ‘politicians should stop pretending that EES works. It doesn’t.’ The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that waiting times could reach six hours at the busiest airports, while the World Travel & Tourism Council estimates that EES-related delays could jeopardise up to 41 million visitor arrivals and $45.4 billion in tourism spending across the EU. In the UK, the Port of Dover has completed a £40 million facility with 84 kiosks for EES checks, but its chief executive says there is ‘no date’ for French authorities to activate them, leaving the infrastructure idle as the summer season begins.

The European Commission maintains that the EES is ‘fully operational in all countries’ and attributes long waiting times to pre-existing factors such as staff shortages, infrastructure limits and flight bunching. However, several member states have already taken unilateral action. France and Portugal have repeatedly suspended the system after their airports went into gridlock, while Greece has exempted British travellers from biometric registration until September, though Athens later denied a formal exemption existed. The Commission has acknowledged that states have flexibility to modulate checks during operational difficulties, but has not endorsed a blanket suspension.

The border-control turmoil compounds other strains on European aviation. IATA has flagged a growing crisis in engine maintenance for new-generation single-aisle aircraft, with hundreds of planes grounded awaiting parts or overhauls, and has called for a more competitive aftermarket. Separately, Europe’s aviation safety regulator has ordered urgent inspections of 16 Airbus A380 superjumbos after cracks were found in wing spars, affecting mainly Emirates and Qantas fleets. With the peak summer travel weeks approaching, airport operators are pressing EU interior ministers for an emergency relaxation of the 100% registration requirement. The dossier is expected to be discussed at the next meeting of the EU’s transport ministers, though no date has been set for a formal decision.