Airports in Europe have been told to bring in more passport officials because of reports of holidaymakers being delayed by up to four hours.
Palma airport in Majorca plans to increase the number of border control staff after passengers were stuck in queues hundreds of metres long to reach passport desks.
The European Union has introduced stringent checks on travellers entering and leaving the Schengen area – the border-free travel zone made up of 26 countries.
The EU admitted yesterday that “more checks can lead to more delays” and insisted that this was “the price of security”.
Some border staff have reportedly been told to spend up to ten minutes checking the details of each passenger during times of heightened terror threat. Yesterday, The Times reported that tourists had faced queues of four hours to enter and leave the most popular European cities.
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Airlines UK, the industry body representing British carriers, said that it had written to the Department for Transport in May, urging it to intervene over the pending crisis, but nothing was done.
Tim Alderslade, the body’s chief executive, said that the government had to persuade “Schengen member states to resource their border operations properly”, adding: “This has failed to happen thus far and it is passengers — many of whom are from the UK — who are suffering as a consequence.”
Complaints have been made on social media about big queues at airports in Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Malaga, Nice, Barcelona and Madrid.
Mina Andreeva, spokeswoman for the European Commission, said: “We cannot have on the one hand a joint request from member states to have more checks and controls, to increase security, and at the same time have complaints about longer waiting periods.
“One is the price for the other. The implementation of the new rules falls under the responsibility of the member states who need to ensure the deployment of sufficient resources and also staff,” she said.
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Schengen area states were told to implement EU regulation 2017/458 that requires enhanced checks on travellers entering and leaving the zone. All air passengers must be checked against databases such as the Schengen Information System and Interpol’s database of stolen and lost travel documents.
Palma, which is Spain’s third busiest airport, has been a particular flashpoint, with passengers posting pictures on social media of passport queues. On Saturday, the airport expects its busiest day of the year, with a record 190,000 passengers passing through.
It was reported yesterday that police and unions had struck a deal to increase the number of officials at passport control to cut queues. However, other Spanish airports are anticipating more problems.
Airport security staff in Barcelona are due to strike throughout August. They will stop work from Friday, with walkouts taking place from 5.30am to 6.30am; 10.30am to 11.30am; 4.30pm to 5.30pm; and 6.30pm to 7.30pm.
Pablo de Porcioles, an economist, tweeted from Barcelona’s El Prat airport: “The queues are awful. To say this is like the third world would be an understatement. This cannot go on.”
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At Madrid Barajas airport last week, civil guard officers had to step in and move passengers along to prevent queues becoming too long.
Ryanair, Europe’s busiest airline, said yesterday: “Our operations across the network are running as normal and we continue to advise customers to arrive at least three hours before the scheduled departure time of their flight.”
