![\"EU\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2025-10-14T121511Z_910474234_RC2MBHAG9DMW_RTRMADP_3_EU-BORDER-CZECH-1782960019.jpg\")
A police officer scans a passport during a presentation of an automated terminal for registration to the Entry\/Exit System (EES) at the Vaclav Havel airport in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 14, 2025 [David W Cerny\/Reuters]<\/p>\nEuropean airlines and airports call for flexibility to suspend digital border system amid severe delays.<\/p>\n
The European Union\u2019s new digital border check system is causing severe disruption to travel, with passengers facing five-hour queues and departure gates closing with planes only half full, industry representatives have warned.<\/p>\n
In an open letter published online on Wednesday, the top representative bodies for Europe\u2019s airports and airlines said that delays caused by the bloc\u2019s recently implemented Entry\/Exit System (EES) had reached a \u201ccritical point\u201d.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe current implementation of the EES is creating severe operational consequences, disrupting passengers and putting border authorities, airports and airlines under unsustainable pressure,\u201d Airports Council International Europe, Airlines for Europe, and the International Air Transport Association said in a joint letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe therefore urge your immediate intervention before the situation deteriorates further during the peak summer travel season.\u201d<\/p>\n
With European airports expected to handle 40 million more passengers in July and August than the previous two months, EU leaders \u201cmust take stock of the reality of the current situation and of what our air transport system will face over the coming weeks\u201d, the lobby groups said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout additional flexibility, existing challenges will inevitably intensify,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs representatives of Europe\u2019s aviation sector, we have a responsibility to warn that this would result in a significant worsening of an already very difficult situation for passengers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warning that the travel disruption was undermining the reputation of the EU and European tourism, the industry groups said it was crucial that the continent continued to be an \u201cefficient, welcoming and competitive\u201d destination.<\/p>\n
\u201cReports already suggest that some international travellers are reconsidering trips to Europe because of the prospect of excessive border delays,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
A police officer scans a passport during a presentation of an automated terminal for registration to the Entry\/Exit System (EES) at the Vaclav Havel airport in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 14, 2025 [David W Cerny\/Reuters]<\/p>\n
Until the stability of the EES is ensured and adequate staffing levels are in place, EU member states should be immediately granted the flexibility to \u201ccompletely suspend\u201d the new system whenever passenger numbers exceed the \u201coperational capacity\u201d of border facilities, the lobby groups said.<\/p>\n
The World Travel and Tourism Council, the world\u2019s largest representative body for tourism-related businesses, said on Wednesday that it endorsed the letter\u2019s calls, warning that the delays could put up to 41 million arrivals and $45.4bn in visitor spending at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf lengthy delays become accepted practice, travellers will look elsewhere,\u201d WTTC president and CEO Gloria Guevara said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope cannot afford to compromise its competitiveness or the experience it offers millions of visitors.\u201d<\/p>\n
A European Commission spokesperson said the body would respond to the industry\u2019s concerns \u201cshortly\u201d, but that the impact of the EES at most airports has been \u201climited\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cMember States are the ones who need to ensure that the necessary operational capacity is in place, including sufficient numbers of border guards, appropriate infrastructure, and automated border control solutions,\u201d the spokesperson said, adding that the commission has been \u201cactively supporting them and the aviation industry in the implementation of the new system since the progressive launch of the system\u201d.<\/p>\n
The spokesperson added that the commission has called for an \u201curgent meeting\u201d \u00a0with member states and industry representatives in the coming days.<\/p>\n
The EU began rolling out the EES in October as a replacement for passport stamping.<\/p>\n
The system records each traveller\u2019s\u00a0name, passport\u00a0information, fingerprints and facial images, and his or her date and place of entry and exit.<\/p>\n
The European Commission announced that the ESS was \u201cfully operational\u201d across the Schengen Area in April, but the system has been blamed for lengthy delays since its introduction, including cases of flights leaving before many of their passengers were able to board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"European airlines and airports call for flexibility to suspend digital border system amid severe delays. The European Union\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1064904,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5174],"tags":[1306,1700,2000,299,5187,12,5006,183],"class_list":["post-1064903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-eu","tag-aviation","tag-economy","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-news","tag-tourism","tag-travel"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116853447538975198","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1064903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064903\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1064904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1064903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1064903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1064903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}