Italian airport chief warns EU border system still causing lengthy waits for travellers
Airport operators and airlines continue to raise concerns over the Entry/Exit System as border processing times remain significantly longer than before
The European Union’s (EU) Entry/Exit System (EES) is continuing to generate lengthy waits at border controls despite recent improvements, with a senior airport executive warning that the new process is still taking almost three times longer than previous passport checks.
Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer at Rome Fiumicino Airport in Italy, said the integration of EES with automated e-gates had improved processing for UK travellers. However, he said the average time required to clear border controls had increased from around seven minutes before the system’s introduction to approximately 20 minutes.
“We are not at the point where you have the same quality of the process before the EES,” Bassato told the BBC, adding that waits of one or two hours were “absolutely not okay” and that “we need to fix urgently certain aspects of the system”.
The digital EES requires non-EU travellers entering the Schengen Area to register biometric information, including fingerprints and a facial image, when crossing the external border. The system has been introduced in phases since October as part of the EU’s wider border modernisation programme.
The latest comments come as Ryanair has urged passengers travelling to Europe this summer to allow extra time for border formalities, warning that the rollout of EES continues to create extended queues at some airports.
Prolonged border processing can increase the risk of missed onward transport, disrupted itineraries, and requests for emergency travel assistance, particularly during the peak summer holiday period.
Delays may also affect cruise passengers, organised tour groups, and travellers with tightly timed flight connections.
Bassato said further improvements could be achieved by removing duplication within the registration process and encouraging wider adoption of the EU’s pre-registration application, which is currently being used by only a limited number of member states.
Similar operational challenges have also been reported in Portugal. Superintendent Pedro Oliveira, who oversees border control at Faro Airport, told the BBC technical issues had occasionally affected the system, resulting in longer queues while servers were restarted.
“[The EES] makes us very dependent on the technology,” he said, noting that server failures could affect multiple member states simultaneously, although such incidents had become less frequent.
While the European Commission said disruption remained limited at most airports and pledged continued support for member states implementing the system, airports and airlines have continued to call for greater operational flexibility during periods of exceptionally high passenger demand.