Arrive three hours before flight home, airline boss tells UK holidaymakers

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Arrive three hours before flight home, airline boss tells UK holidaymakers15 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleKaty AustinTransport correspondentGetty ImagesBritish holidaymakers should arrive at European airports three hours before their flight home departs due to lengthy queues caused by new border checks, the UK boss of budget airline Wizz Air has warned. Yvonne Moynihan told the the long delays getting through passport control at some European airports had caused some passengers to miss return or connecting flights. Airports said queues were worsening under the Entry Exit System (EES) which requires travellers to register fingerprints.

But a European Commission spokesperson said EES was working well at "almost all border crossing points". The EES requires travellers from outside the EU to register biometric information when entering many European countries, which is then checked when they leave. Since October, almost 80 million entries and exits have been registered, with 35,000 refusals of entry recorded.

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From 10 April, it is meant to be fully in use at borders of the Schengen free movement zone, including airports. However, Greece has effectively suspended biometric checks at its borders for British citizens in order to prevent summer disruption. 'Prepare for queues'Wizz AirWizz Air chief executive Yvonne MoynihanWizz Air's Moynihan said the impact of the new checks was "fragmented across Europe".

While there has been some "seamless travel", she said there had been long queues at "usual hotspots such as Spain, Portugal, France". When Moynihan travelled to Mallorca for half term, she encountered no queues, with extra staff on hand and "a significant amount of kiosks". However, she said in general her airline was advising passengers to prepare for long waits.

"When you land in the destination airport, there might be queues, so you should bring a portable charger or water," she said. Because EES information has to be verified when people leave, she also highlighted the risk of queues before flights back to the UK. "Because there is another passport check...

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that's where we see that people have, again, experienced longer waiting times than anticipated," she said. She said usual advice is to get to the airport two hours ahead of your flight - "but in these circumstances, we are advising three hours". Moynihan advised anyone taking a connecting flight to allow "a number of hours" between flights in case of border queues.

She said border officials were proactively suspending EES checks if long waits built up. The European Commission says EES isn't the only thing that can cause delays, and registering information usually only takes around a minute. Easyjet leaves 100 behind in border check queuesNo summer border delays for Brits, Greek tourism minister saysACI Europe, a trade body for airports, said it surveyed 45 airports in 20 EU states earlier this week.

The results suggested EES was now causing queues of up to three and a half hours.

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