Airlines and airports demand urgent EC action in EES system implementation

The industry requests urgent measures and flexibility to ensure efficient border management

The current implementation of the EES (Schengen Entry/Exit System) is creating serious operational challenges, as pointed out in an open letter to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, by ACI EUROPE (Airport Council International Europe), along with Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The European Commission is urged to demonstrate the leadership and flexibility needed to protect the integrity of the Schengen area and the millions of passengers who rely daily on the European air transport system.

The signatories emphasize that wait times of up to five hours at border control disrupt millions of passengers, delay flights, put frontline staff under increasing pressure, and jeopardize Europe's connectivity and reputation.

ACI EUROPE, together with Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), in their open letter calls on the European Commission to act immediately and take the following measures without delay:

  • Immediately provide Member States with all the necessary flexibility to fully suspend the EES preemptively whenever passenger numbers exceed the operational capacity of border control facilities, at least during July and August.

  • In close cooperation with Member States and the industry, establish a permanent operational flexibility mechanism by September that will allow border control authorities to suspend EES procedures under clearly defined exceptional circumstances to ensure efficient, passenger-centric border management.

Such flexibility measures should remain available until the structural challenges repeatedly highlighted by the industry are fully resolved, including:

  • An adequate number of staff at airport border crossings.

  • Full stability and reliability of the central EES platform and national interfaces.

  • Completing the operational and fully functional rollout of self-service kiosks and ABC gates across Member States.

  • Full functionality and rollout of the pre-registration mobile application in all Member States.

The open letter emphasizes that the aforementioned demands do not imply an absence of border control, but simply a temporary pause of the EES whenever necessary and justified, and a return to standard Schengen border checks—including passport stamping.

The open letter is available here.

Source and photo: ACI Europe