Rome airports warn of summer ‘disaster’ amid EES delays

Rome’s airports will have to suspend the new Entry/Exit System (EES) to cope with the summer peak period, the head of the capital’s airports company has warned. 

Marco Troncone told the FT allowing passengers to bypass the controversial system was the only way to avoid a “disaster” in the coming busy weeks.

The launch of the EU biometric border control system has caused long queues for some passengers, prompting some airports to suspend part of the checks.

Troncone, chief executive of Aeroporti di Roma, which operates Fiumicino and the smaller Ciampino airport, told the FT: “We are very worried for the summer.”

On a scale of one to 10, he said his concern is currently “eight or nine”. 

He added: “The only way is to open up the valve.”

His warning comes days after the head of Europe’s airport trade association called for urgent action to prevent more “chaos” caused by EES this summer.

Stefan Schulte, ACI Europe president and chief executive of the company that owns Frankfurt Airport, said EES is keeping him and many other airport CEOs across Europe awake at night.

The automated booths do not always work and passengers who have already passed through EES once before – who are supposed to skip the queues – are often forced to carry out checks from scratch, adding to congestion. 

Olivier Jankovec, director general of ACI Europe, told the FT that not all the self-service booths work, so hubs need the ability to fully suspend EES registration to cope with the summer peak.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said that the EES was “fully operational across all Schengen countries and works well” and the rules provide for “flexibility to ensure border fluidity”, added the FT report.

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