IATA, A4E, ACI EUROPE and ERA criticise deployment of Regulation EU 458/2017

IATA, A4E, Airlines International Representation in Europe (AIRE), European Regions Airline Association (ERA) and ACI EUROPE issued (24-Aug-2017) an open letter to the EU Council of Ministers, expressing "significant concerns related to the chaotic implementation of Regulation EU 458/2017". As previously reported by CAPA, the regulation relates to increased border control checks. According to the associations, the number of delayed services due to border control issues increased 97% year-on-year for the period Apr-2017 to Jun-2017, after the regulation entered into force. The new checks increase processing times at border control by approximately 20 seconds per passenger, meaning on average one extra hour is necessary to process a single service. Around 319 million passengers p/a will be affected by the enhanced border control prescribed by the regulation in 2017, equating to almost half of all passengers travelling through EU airports. The associations called on EU Member States to "deploy the necessary number of border officers" and consider further deployment of automated border control gates, including at secondary airports where non-Schengen traffic is significant. [more - original PR]