As the weather gets warmer, many of you are likely planning your summer vacations.
If you are planning a trip to Europe, you should pay close attention.
Reports indicate that confusion is spreading regarding immigration procedures at major European airports.
The Financial Times recently reported that European airport operators are expressing concerns over potential chaos this summer, arguing that the new Entry/Exit System (EES) procedures should be bypassed during the peak weeks of the season.
The EES is a system that requires short-term visitors who are not citizens of EU member states to digitally register their fingerprints and facial photographs.
Introduced as a pilot program in early October of last year to curb illegal immigration, it went into full effect in April of this year.
However, self-registration kiosks are frequently malfunctioning.
Furthermore, there have been situations where passengers who have already completed the process are forced to undergo the inspection again from the beginning, leading to long queues.
As the summer vacation season begins in earnest, the number of visitors is expected to rise sharply, which will likely worsen the situation.
The International Air Transport Association has projected that waiting times could reach up to 6 hours at the most severely affected airports.
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