EES: Stop pretending EU’s new border system is working, says airports chief

“We urgently need full flexibility for border control authorities to suspend the EES whenever needed to avoid further chaos – along with a rethink of those processes,” Schulte said.

“This is about showing respect and decency for those who chose to travel to the EU, and safeguarding our reputation as a welcoming and efficient destination.”

The European Commission is allowing EES to be suspended in some circumstances until September.

But Schulte told the BBC’s World at One programme that individual governments had to make the decision to suspend the system, not airports themselves, adding that queues lengthened while such decisions were being made.

He also warned that the summer peak lasts much longer than early September and after that, we were potentially looking at the “complete collapse of the system”.

Earlier this year Greece’s tourism minister said she did not want visitors to be “burdened” by bureaucratic procedures when entering or leaving the country.

Olga Kefalogianni promised British passengers would not face biometric checks when travelling to Greece this summer.

But the situation remains unclear after the Greek Foreign Ministry later disputed that any exemption existed, external.

There were also reports that Portugal and Italy were considering exempting British nationals from EES checks at their airports but the European Commission claimed there were no such plans in place.

Additional reporting by Katy Austin, Transport correspondent