Europe’s Airport Travellers Face Long Security Queues

European holidaymakers jetting off to popular summer destinations are experiencing long queues at airports after the introduction of tighter security checks, Financial Times reports.

Airline passengers have faced queues of up to four hours at European airports, including Palma de Mallorca, Madrid, Lisbon, Milan and Paris-Orly.

The new security measures, which countries had six months to implement from April, mean people entering and leaving the Schengen area face enhanced checks. Border staff must now check passenger details against security databases.

The delays coincide with some of the busiest travelling weeks for airports around Europe. Some airports have seen flight delays jump 300 % compared with last year, according to Airlines for Europe, which represents a number of the region’s biggest airlines, including Ryanair and easyJet.

The European Commission said that the tougher security checks at airports were the result of EU member states asking Brussels to upgrade border checks.

National authorities have had two-and-a-half years to prepare since the measures were first set out by the commission in December 2015, a commission official said.

ABTA, the travel trade association, said passengers should factor longer queueing times into their travel plans. “It is also extremely important that border control check points are sufficiently resourced so that queueing times are kept to a minimum,” the group said.

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