Travel industry leaders have welcomed the decision to delay the new European entry and exit scheme but say it still needs a specific date to work towards.
The European Union has confirmed that new border check procedures will not be introduced on 10 November as planned.
But it has failed to give a date for the launch of the scheme, which will require non-EU citizens – including UK citizens – to register biometric data when passing through passport control.
Initial plans said both facial and fingerprint data would be required but in the most recent EU communication it suggests it will be either facial or fingerprint.
Reports had been emerging that Germany, France and the Netherlands were not ready for the roll-out, leading to the most recent announcement from EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson on Thursday October 10.
She said the November date is not on the table and instead the EU is planning a phased introduction for the changes.
Luke Petherbridge, Director of Public Affairs at ABTA – The Travel Association said: “It is good to know the full implementation of EES is no longer expected in November, as the industry had been left in limbo waiting for news on when it will start.
“We do still need urgent confirmation and clarification on the next steps of EES; it’s difficult to talk to a customer about a new system without knowing if it will actually be in place for their trip.
“It is also really important the rollout, in whatever form it takes, avoids peak travel periods.”
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said the delay will give the industry “a huge sigh of relief” as there was significant concern that the lack of preparedness would caused delay and setbacks for so many non-EU passport holder at the borders.
“An inordinate amount of work has already been undertaken across the UK Outbound Travel industry in preparing for these new digital border systems and the numerous delays to the introduction of the scheme are not conducive to good public awareness and this further delay whilst it gives more time to prepare remains another point of confusion,” she said.
“Right now, there is very limited public awareness of what this means for anyone expecting to travel to Europe from outside the EU and as we get closer to launch date and key travel periods clear and transparent communication will be vital.”
AITO Head of Industry Affairs Christina Brazier welcome the delayed implementation and said: “This announcement gives Member States valuable time in which to prepare and for the EU to clarify key outstanding issues. We fully support the proposal of a phased rollout, as it will allow the system to be thoroughly tested before full implementation.”
At the ABTA Convention in Greece this month, ABTA warned of the lack of awareness of the scheme and said it was helping to brief its members of developments.
