Speaking at ACI Europe's annual congress in Prague, ACI Europe President Stefan Schulte said the EU Entry-Exit System (EES) had become the biggest concern facing airport leaders this summer, and pleaded with the EU for greater flexibility heading into peak season.

"Right now, EES is what keeps me and many other airport CEOs across Europe awake at night," he said. "Passengers are queuing for hours at peak times and I just do not know how we will be able to cope in the coming weeks with the expected increase in traffic."

Schulte made the comments, which constitute one of the strongest public criticisms yet of the new border controls, during his discussion with European Commission Director General for Mobility and Transport Magda Kopczynska.

"EU Home Affairs Commissioner [Magnus] Brunner and Home Affairs Ministers must stop pretending the situation is manageable and that EES is working just fine – it is not," he added.

'Show respect and decency for those travelling to the EU'

EES requires non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area to register biometric information – fingerprints and photographs – when they travel through European airports, ports and rail terminals, which are having to adapt their processes to accommodate the checks.

However, the system has already caused lengthy queues at some border points, prompting the use of temporary easements that allow checks to be suspended during periods of severe congestion. Earlier this year, Greece announced it would be suspending checks entirely for British citizens in a bid to boost tourism.

Schulte insisted authorities needed far greater flexibility to pause the system where necessary. "We urgently need full flexibility for border control authorities to suspend the EES whenever needed to avoid further chaos, along with a rethink of those processes," he said.

"This is about showing respect and decency for those who chose to travel to the EU, and safeguarding our reputation as a welcoming and efficient destination."

New Dover border unlikely to launch this summer

His intervention comes just days after UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told MPs she would work with European counterparts to address concerns about potential summer disruption.

Speaking to the transport select committee last week, Alexander said she would consider "what more we could do with our European counterparts to provide reassurance and confidence in the system".

She also acknowledged problems at Dover during the May half-term getaway and said authorities wanted to avoid a repeat of the congestion experienced during the bank holiday period.

Now, it appears The Port of Dover’s £40 million border processing facility is unlikely to become operational before the summer holidays. The purpose-built site, constructed on reclaimed land in the Western Docks, contains 84 self-service kiosks designed to capture fingerprints and photographs from car passengers travelling to the continent.

Although the facility is physically complete, the kiosks cannot be activated until the French Police Aux Frontieres switches on the technology. Port Chief Executive Doug Bannister said the latest indications suggested the site would "most probably" not be available during the summer season, the BBC reports.

The facility has capacity for around 600 vehicles at any one time, while the port has also introduced an AI-powered vehicle tracking system to manage traffic movements between the processing area and the ferry terminal.