DUBLIN (Reuters) - Groups representing Europe’s largest airlines and airports have warned of chaos and hours-long queues unless countries better coordinate the roll-out of the EU’s digital COVID-19 certificate and ensure passengers are processed before arriving at airports.
The European Union’s system of digital COVID-19 travel certificates is due to come into force on Thursday, but airports group ACI and airlines representative bodies A4E, IATA and ERA warned in a letter to EU national leaders of a “worrying patchwork of approaches” across the continent.
“As passenger traffic increases in the coming weeks, the risk of chaos at European Airports is real,” the groups said in the joint letter sent on Monday and seen by Reuters.
The digital certificates are designed to show, via QR codes, whether passengers are fully vaccinated, have immunity due to recent recovery from COVID-19 or have had a negative test.
They are designed to be used for travel throughout the EU from July 1, but would require extra checks and the right equipment to read the codes.
The letter said the only way to avoid huge queues and delays during the peak summer season was to implement a system whereby both the vaccination certificate and passenger locator forms are processed remotely before the passenger arrives at the airport. ...
