Could the new EU entry-exit system lead to air travel gridlock?
The three airports most at risk of gridlock when EU entry-exit system begins
- Aviation economist Oliver Ranson warns that the EU's new entry-exit system (EES), starting 12 October, could cause significant disruption at European airports.
- The EES requires non-Schengen travellers, including Britons, to provide biometrics, potentially quadrupling processing times at border checkpoints.
- Athens, Bucharest, and Milan Malpensa were identified as the three European airports most at risk of passenger gridlock due to their evenly spread non-Schengen arrival patterns.
- Mr Ranson suggests that if queues do not dissipate, flights could be diverted or cancelled, impacting both arriving and departing passengers.
- Airports with clustered or wave-like non-Schengen arrivals, such as Palermo, are considered less vulnerable.