Airlines and airports urge EU to suspend new border checks during summer peak

Industry push for a summer pause

Airlines and airport groups have asked the European Commission to let airports suspend the EU Entry/Exit System during the July and August holiday peak, warning that the new biometric border checks are already disrupting travel.

The request was made in a letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen from ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe and the International Air Transport Association.

The groups say queues at some border points have reached up to five hours, with passengers forced to wait outdoors in some cases and some flights leaving half full or with travelers left behind.

They argue that the summer peak will make the problem worse, because airport traffic is expected to rise sharply just as the new system is being tested under heavy demand.

What the system does

The Entry/Exit System requires many non-EU travelers to register fingerprints and a photograph on first entry into the Schengen area.

Coverage says the rollout began progressively in October 2025 and the system became fully operational across Schengen on April 10, 2026.

That timetable has put the new border checks into use just ahead of the busiest travel months in Europe, when airports have the least room to absorb delays.

Industry groups say the result is not just inconvenience for passengers. They say border bottlenecks are affecting punctuality, capacity and the overall passenger experience, with knock-on effects for airline schedules.

Tensions over responsibility

The European Commission has said the system is fully operational and has argued that long waits are often driven by pre-existing problems such as staff shortages and infrastructure limits rather than the system itself.

That leaves the dispute focused on whether the EES is causing the disruption directly, or whether the problem is that some airports and border posts are not yet equipped to handle the extra workload.

The industry letter is a request for flexibility rather than a permanent reversal. Airlines and airport operators want the option to suspend checks during the peak summer period so operations can keep moving at the busiest times.

Existing pressure points

The push from the three trade groups follows earlier warnings from airports and authorities that the system may need local workarounds during the summer.

Rome airports had already warned on June 25 that the new passport system could need to be suspended to avoid a major disruption.

Coverage has also pointed to temporary flexibility in places including Greece and France, underscoring that the rollout is already being managed unevenly across the bloc.

What comes next

The immediate question is whether the Commission will respond to the letter and, if so, on what timeline.

Member states may also decide whether to widen temporary suspensions or allow local exemptions at busy airports if queues continue to build.

For now, the dispute highlights the trade-off at the heart of the rollout: the EU wants a more secure digital border system, while airlines and airports are warning that summer travel cannot absorb prolonged processing delays.

If the longest waits spread to more major gateways, pressure on Brussels and national border authorities is likely to increase through the rest of the holiday season.