Spanish airlines want to scrap passport control at departure gates to speed up operations
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 @ 8:32 PM
AIRLINES operating in Spain have urged the ministry of transport to scrap the requirement for passengers to show their passports or national ID cards at the departure gates, in order to speed up the boarding process.
They have also called for more human and financial resources to be employed to make searches, checks and general handling quicker, especially at passport control where queues tend to build up in summer.
Spain is one of just four countries within the 26 nations in the Schengen zone - along with Italy, Portugal and the Czech Republic - where passports or ID cards have to be shown at the boarding gates, and this slows proceedings down by an average of five minutes even on flights which are not busy.
The Association of Spanish Air Transport Companies (ACETA), which includes Iberia, Vueling, Air Europa, Evelop, Iberia Express, Air Nostrum and Binter Canarias met with minister for infrastructure, transport and public works this week in light of the Vueling chaos which has seen up to 40 flights a day cancelled and passengers grounded all over Europe.
They were joined by other carriers operating in Spain, including Ryanair, easyJet, Air Berlin and Norwegian.
ACETA members called for more digital fast-track routes through passport control to cut the queues at a time when Spain's airports are operating at full capacity due to the summer tourism influx, one of the country's most vital industries.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com