Airports Call for Suspension of New EU Biometric Control System — The Guardian
Leading aviation associations have called on the European Commission to immediately suspend the new biometric border control system during the peak summer season.
Due to technical difficulties in processing data, passengers are forced to wait in lines for up to five hours, causing chaos at European airports.
In a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, industry organizations—including ACI Europe and the International Air Transport Association—emphasized the critical nature of the situation.
The passenger air transport sector is under extreme pressure, which threatens to completely destabilize flight schedules.
“We have reached a critical point,” representatives of the industry associations stated in their appeal.
According to them, border services are physically unable to keep up with the passenger flow, forcing people to wait for screening even outside the terminals in open areas.
The situation is causing significant losses and inconvenience for travelers.
“Airlines are facing a situation where, by the time the boarding gate closes, planes remain half-empty, while passengers are stuck in lines at border control,” the letter to the European Commission’s leadership states.
Some flights are forced to delay departures while waiting for late passengers, while others take off with significantly fewer people on board.
This creates a domino effect that negatively impacts the overall logistics of air travel within the European Union.
The organizations are calling on the European Commission to authorize airports to suspend biometric checks in cases where passenger traffic exceeds the operational capacity of checkpoints.
This measure is proposed to be implemented throughout July and August to prevent a collapse of the aviation industry.
This was reported by The Guardian.
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