EES contingencies should be extended until October, industry leaders urge

Urgent action is still needed to get the EU’s digital Entry-Exit System (EES) working properly in time for the peak summer holiday travel period, according to industry leaders.

The call came from Abta chief executive Mark Tanzer and his Airlines UK counterpart Tim Alderslade following scenes of queues and delays across key European resort gateway airports during the May half-term.

They have joined other industry bodies in raising the need to use contingency measures to stand down checks on passenger arrivals at the busiest times.

Writing in a column published on Travel Weekly today, Tanzer and Alderslade issued a joint appeal for contingencies to be put in place until at least the autumn.

They said: “Existing contingency measures enable checks to be stood down until September.

“But given we are already in June, and still seeing queues of an hour or more across many destinations during busy periods, there is a clear need to question the deliverability of the system on current timelines.

“At the very least, we believe these contingency measures must now be extended to the end of the Iata summer season in late October.”

Consideration must also be given to wide availability of the Travel to Europe app, and how this could be used to improve checks and speed up the arrival process, they argue.

Better triaging of arriving passengers, by splitting out those who have registered from those who have not, could also help make the process smoother for those who have completed the forms.

“To date, the approach to these operational matters has been inconsistent and inadequate, with a seeming lack of central co-ordination or sharing of best practice,” the two industry leaders point out.

They add: “It is important not to lose sight of the fact that many people are still getting away with minimal disruption to their journeys.

“That is the other side of the joint activity being undertaken: ensuring a balanced, fact-based approach in the media that avoids scaremongering.

“But there is no escaping the reality that improvements are urgently needed.”