A Rome airports, company that manages Fiumicino Ciampino called for the suspension of new biometric controls at the European Union's borders and warned of the risk of a "disaster" this summer. The checks cause queues of up to six hours for passengers from outside the bloc, on the eve of a season that promises to break air traffic records.
The rule does not apply to those traveling with a passport from an EU country, such as Italy. It only applies to travelers from outside the EU. Schengen Areaincluding Brazilians and British citizens, for example, without European citizenship. Given this scenario, dozens of companies that manage European airports are requesting a temporary suspension of entry and exit checks.
“We are very concerned about the summer, on a scale of one to ten I would say eight or nine,” Marco Troncone, president of Aeroporti di Roma, told the Financial Times. According to him, the process is proving incompatible with the expected peak traffic and may need to be suspended to avoid “disasters.”
Waiting times have doubled.
This warning adds to one issued in May by Armando Brunini, president of Sea, which manages Milan Malpensa and Linate. According to him, average waiting times per passenger have doubled since the new system was implemented, and these cases are not isolated.
Brunini pointed to several causes for the delays. There are 27 member states with 27 different police forces, national databases that need to communicate with European ones, and insufficient border personnel. The pre-registration app at home, before the trip, was activated in only two countries, and not even fully.
Airports are asking for flexibility.
“Politicians should stop pretending that the EES works, because it doesn’t,” Stefan Schulte, president of ACI Europe, told the BBC. The organization’s director-general, Olivier Jankovec, stated that the self-service gates need to work and requested the possibility of suspending registration entirely during the summer months.
Some Greek airports have already allowed British citizens to bypass EES controls, and other destinations may follow suit. The European Commission, however, maintains that the system is fully operational in all Schengen countries and works well.
For Brussels, the long waits are mostly due to factors that predate the EES (Emergency Electronic Surveillance), such as staff shortages, infrastructure limitations, and the concentration of flights at certain times. The bloc points out that the rules allow for flexibility, including the suspension of biometric controls, and says it is up to the Member States to ensure the correct application of the system.(With information from Corriere della Sera)
