Frustration grows over EU passport queues

entry and exit, meaning the delays affect Britons landing in Europe and also those waiting to board flights back to the UK, with some passengers missing their flights as a result.

Aviation industry sources said that the situation was likely to get worse next week as millions of families fly out for their summer holidays.

EU member states have until Oct 7 to implement the enhanced security checks, meaning some airports are yet to impose the new restrictions. The new EU rules require passport control to carry out entry and exit checks on travellers from non-schengen countries, including the UK, against a series of databases to flag up security concerns. Previously, the majority of British travellers have been waved through after a visual passport inspection.

Lord Callanan, the aviation minister, has called on his counterparts in the worst-affected countries to demand action amid concerns that they failed to deploy enough staff to conduct checks.

Airlines UK demanded that the Government use “whatever influence it can” to speed up checks for British passengers. It urged ministers to remind their EU counterparts that the small print of the European regulation behind the enhanced checks allowed for them to be suspended if they were causing “disproportionate” delays.

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said it was “up to the UK Government” to help the airline industry by putting pressure on EU member states to “resource their border operations properly”.

Michael O’leary, the Ryanair chief executive, said he was “jumping up and down” in frustration at the disruption.