Italy and Portugal have been tipped to follow Greece in scrapping the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) border checks at airports, which have caused chaos for some British holidaymakers
Airports in Greece have already scrapped the new rules (file)(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Travel experts believe Italy and Portugal could be the next two countries to ditch EU border checks at airports.
Many British holidaymakers are suffering delays at airports on continental Europe because of the rollout of new border rules. The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) involves people from external countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen Area.
More than 100 easyJet passengers stuck in delays at passport desks at Milan Linate airport missed a flight to Manchester last month. Greece has already ditched the new rules for UK holidaymakers until September after they led to huge queues.
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Airports in Portugal are reportedly already waving passengers through if queues get too big. Italy is expected to follow Greece and allow people to enter on a passport stamp as the May half-term looms. Places like Spain, France and Croatia could do the same.
Seamus McCauley, of travel company Holiday Extras, told the Mail: “The rollout has been an utter fiasco. British tourists are worth €3.5billion a year to the Greek economy and it has rightly decided it will not jeopardise that because EES is not working properly.”
He said it “seems certain” Italy and Portugal will do the same as Greece. He added: “After that the whole system could collapse like a house of cards, with Spain, France and Croatia coming to the same conclusion because nobody wants to see their tourist trade go to another country simply to comply with the EU.
“Greece broke ranks and Portugal keeps suspending the rules. Others are almost certain to follow. Something has to give.”
It comes as Ryanair says passengers who need to use its airport check-in or bag-drop services will be required to finish the process 20 minutes earlier.
The airline announced it will close the services an hour before the scheduled departure of a flight – compared to 40 minutes at the moment – to give passengers more time to get through security and passport checks.
This will reduce the “very small number of passengers” who miss their flight while stuck in queues, the carrier added. Ryanair’s website says passengers who fail to check in on time “may be denied boarding without refund”.
The new policy will be in place from November 10.