EU’s ‘unpleasant and dangerous’ border checks need overhaul, says Greek airports boss

Alexander Zinell’s airports include Rhodes, Corfu, Mykonos and Crete. Photograph: Fedja Grulovic/Reuters View image in fullscreen Alexander Zinell’s airports include Rhodes, Corfu, Mykonos and Crete. Photograph: Fedja Grulovic/Reuters EU’s ‘unpleasant and dangerous’ border checks need overhaul, says Greek airports boss Airports have had to use gazebos to shield passengers from sun as they wait to be processed, says Alexander Zinell The boss of 14 Greek airports has called for a serious overhaul of the EU’s new border checks, after being forced to erect gazebos for passengers to cope with queues. The chief executive of Fraport Greece , Alexander Zinell, joined a growing chorus of critics calling out “fundamental flaws” in the entry-exit system (EES), which requires non-EU passengers to have their fingerprints and photo taken at the start of the their trip and verified every time they leave or re-enter the Schengen zone. His airports have already used gazebos to shield queuing passengers from the scorching sun as they wait to be processed, while vulnerable people have been prioritised through security to ensure their safety. UK summer bookings jump as Britons put off overseas holidays by travel fears Read more “It is very unpleasant for passengers, and even dangerous,” Zinell said. Greek authorities have indicated that police will not check UK passengers in practice, although there is no blanket legal exemption from the biometric tests. Visitors from the UK make up the bulk of non-EU tourists passing through Zinell’s aiports, which include Corfu, Rhodes, Mykonos and Crete. Border police have flexibility under EU rules to suspend checks in peak queues but that right is set to lapse in September. Zinell said it was the only thing keeping the system, which was first rolled out last October, from collapse. “These are just temporary fixes, the system needs to be overhauled,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. “It needs a new version, an update, and probably a reconfiguration in order to allow people to register before they fly, before they get on a plane, before they go to the airport.” It heaps pressure on the EU authorities, who are already facing calls from the International Air Transport Association to suspend the new controls until next summer because of fears of chaos in holiday hotspots. Iata said last week that passengers were also experiencing “delays and missed connections” in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Belgium, while Ryanair warned of “queue chaos” in airports including popular holiday destinations such as Alicante, Málaga and Palma. British cross-Channel ferry passengers could also face long delays unless the French border police suspend EES. The Home Office has promised to push heavily for the checks to be paused at Dover after warnings that the port faced “utter chaos and miles of tailbacks” with peak holiday traffic due to arrive from 17 July. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion The port of Dover said EES c