Holidaymakers should allow several hours before their return fight to the UK, an airline boss has warned.
Passengers are facing delays at borders attributable to the implementation of the EU’s Entry Exit System (EES).
Wizz Air UK director Yvonne Moynihan said some travellers were missing flights after getting held up at passport control while leaving several European countries.
Under the brand new scheme, passengers from third countries entering and leaving the Schengen zone are required to supply fingerprints and facial biometrics.
Some 80 million people have been recorded entering or leaving under the system because it was introduced last October.
The scheme was alleged to be fully operational in all participating countries by April 10.
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But some countries have experienced teething problems with the technology needed to process passengers, resulting in delays.
Greece has suspended its implementation of the EES this summer to alleviate problems at its many holiday hotspots.
The EU Commission has insisted that the system was functioning easily at most airports and ports.
Nonetheless Ms Moynihan said passengers needs to be prepared to attend and will allow as much as three hours when taking a flight out of the Schengen area.
She told the BBC: ‘Be conscious that there possibly delays and just to make sure you’ve got the correct supplies with you.’
She added that it was hoped airports would herald ‘extra resilience and additional resource’ to address increased numbers through the summer.
How does the Entry Exit System work?
Under the EES, passengers could also be asked to supply fingerprints and facial biometrics on entry to all 29 countries within the Schengen area. That’s, all EU member states except Ireland and Cyprus, along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
For essentially the most part this is completed via self-service kiosks in immigration halls.
Passengers are required to scan their passport, provide their biometrics and answer questions on their stay.
Registration must even be verified at the purpose of exit, with many travellers reporting long queues in some countries.
Airports facing delays attributable to a big volume of passengers or technological issues have several options.
Firstly passengers will be registered manually onto the system at a passport control desk if the self-service machines don’t recognise their documents.
Airports may suspend the system in ‘exceptional circumstances’ for as much as six hours, reverting to traditional ‘wet stamping’ of passports.
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