Writing jointly to EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the heads of ACI Europe, Airlines for Europe (A4E) and Iata said that with wait times of up to five hours at peak times, the sector had reached "a critical point" and required an "immediate intervention".

Olivier Jankovec, Director General of ACI Europe, Ourania Georgoutsakou, Managing Director of A4E, and Thomas Reynaert, Iata's Senior Vice-President of External Affairs, said the current implementation of EES was creating "severe operational consequences" putting border authorities, airports and airlines under "unsustainable pressure".

"We therefore urge your immediate intervention before the situation deteriorates further during the peak summer travel season," they said.

The trio said that since the full rollout of EES in April, wait times at border control had increased significantly, "now reaching up to five hours during peak periods".

This, they said, is impacting millions of passengers, with knock-on effects including flight delays and missed connections "increasing pressure on frontline staff".

These challenges come despite member states "making extensive use" of temporary flexibility to suspend collection of EES biometric data. "While this measure has provided some relief, it has not prevented excessive queues for passengers nor preserved airport and airline operations," said the bosses.

'Without flexibility, existing challenges will inevitably intensify'

They warned: "We are now entering the busiest period of the year. During July and August alone, European airports are expected to handle approximately 40 million more passengers than during the previous two months.

"The commission and member states must take stock of the reality of the current situation and of what our air transport system will face over the coming weeks. Without additional flexibility, existing challenges will inevitably intensify.

"As representatives of Europe's aviation sector, we have a responsibility to warn this would result in a significant worsening of an already very difficult situation for passengers."

Jankovec, Georgoutsakou and Reynaert said the pressures were being felt at Europe's largest hubs and smaller airports alike. "Passengers have already been forced to queue for extended periods outside terminal buildings and on exposed aprons because border control facilities cannot process arrivals quickly enough."

Meanwhile, airlines are finding their aircraft "half-empty" at gate closing times owing to passengers being stuck in border control queues, they said.

Reputational risk

Together, the trio said beyond immediate operational challenges, the EU's reputation was at stake. "Europe must remain a destination not only secure but also efficient, welcoming and competitive," they continued.

"Reports already suggest that some international travellers are reconsidering trips to Europe because of the prospect of excessive border delays. This is undermining Europe’s reputation, European tourism and connectivity, in particular."

The letter calls for the European Commission to provide member states flexibility to completely suspend EES when passenger volumes exceed operational capacity, "at least throughout July and August".

In addition, the leaders are seeking "a permanent operational flexibility mechanism" allowing border control authorities to suspend EES "under clearly defined exceptional circumstances".

This flexibility, they said, should remain in place until several "structural challenges" are fully addressed. These include adequate staffing at all airport border crossing points, full stability and reliability of the central EES platform and national interfaces, fully functional deployment of kiosks and ABC gates across member states, and full functionality of and deployment of the EES pre-registration app across all member states.