The chief executive of Fraport Greece, Alexander Zinell, who runs 14 Greek airports including Corfu, Rhodes, Mykonos and Crete, has called for a major overhaul of the EU's new entry-exit system (EES), describing the border checks as "unpleasant and dangerous" for passengers. His airports have had to erect gazebos to shield travellers queuing in the sun and prioritise vulnerable people through security. The intervention matters because it adds to mounting pressure on the EU over a scheme that is causing delays across popular holiday destinations at the height of the summer season.

The EES requires non-EU passengers, who make up the bulk of tourists at Zinell's airports and are largely from the UK, to give fingerprints and a photo at the start of a trip and have them verified on each Schengen crossing. Border police can currently suspend checks at peak times, but that flexibility lapses in September; Zinell said it was the only thing preventing the system, rolled out last October, from collapsing. The International Air Transport Association has urged suspending controls until next summer amid reports of delays in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Belgium, while the port of Dover reported four-and-a-half-hour delays over May half-term. The EU admits the system is "not perfect" but has rejected suspension, saying only 20 of 1,500 crossing points are "difficult spots".