Marco Troncone, CEO of Aeroporti di Roma, which manages Fiumicino and Ciampino airports, said it is essential to temporarily suspend certain biometric checks to prevent severe bottlenecks during the summer peak.

He rated the current risk level at "eight or nine" on a scale of one to ten, arguing that the new registration process for non-EU passengers is incompatible with expected traffic flows; consequently, the only solution is to "open the valve," as completing all required registrations is impossible.

The EES came into effect in mid-April following repeated delays and requires citizens of non-EU countries to provide fingerprints and photographs upon their first entry into the Schengen Area, with the aim of strengthening the security of the bloc's external borders.

Since its launch, however, the platform has suffered from chronic technical glitches, leading to long queues at airports even before the high season.

Key issues cited by operators include malfunctions in self-service kiosks and errors forcing passengers who have already registered to repeat the entire process. Olivier Jankovec, Director General of the airport association ACI Europe, directly criticised these automation issues, emphasising that the automated systems are not functioning as intended.

Fears of an operational bottleneck extend across Europe. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has warned that wait times could reach six hours at the most severely affected airports.

In response to this crisis scenario, some operators have already begun applying exception criteria on their own initiative: earlier this month, airports in Greece allowed British citizens to bypass EES procedures to relieve congestion in terminal buildings.

These concerns are also affecting major hubs outside the European Union, such as London and Istanbul, where managers worry about a global domino effect of flight delays. Selahattin Bilgen, CEO of Istanbul Airport, confirmed the negative impact, noting that many Turkish passengers are encountering significant hurdles during their initial interactions with the European system.

Conversely, the European Commission rejects the collapse scenario and maintains that the system is fully operational across all Schengen countries.

A spokesperson for the Commission argued that the observed wait times stem from pre-existing structural issues, such as staffing shortages at customs, physical infrastructure limitations, and the excessive concentration of flights within the same time slots.

Nevertheless, Brussels noted that the current regulatory framework already provides Member States with legal flexibility mechanisms, allowing them to temporarily suspend the collection of biometric data whenever the smooth flow of border traffic is at risk, thereby placing the decision-making responsibility on national authorities.