At today's extraordinary meeting, the Board of Directors of Prague Airport agreed on the need to continually explore all possible solutions to the current problems caused by long queues. These have been forming in recent days at passport control for passengers arriving in Prague from so-called third countries—that is, countries outside the EU and the Schengen Area.
A number of measures have already been implemented in recent days, with further measures being put in place. These include, for example, information displays and LCD screens showing apology messages in English. Staff from the “Red Team”—the airport passenger assistants—are also on site to help ensure a smoother passage for elderly passengers and families with children. Handling capacity had already been adjusted before the start of the summer to prevent large build-ups of passengers. In cooperation with the Immigration Police, preparations are underway to introduce an additional checkpoint into the border control process, which will ensure a significant increase in the rate of successful registrations in the EES (Entry/Exit System).
The measures cover a number of areas to help manage the new EES system and optimise the handling of arrivals at border control. "We know that a fairly large percentage of passengers fail to complete their electronic registration at the kiosks. This is one specific example of a possible improvement. We don't want passengers, particularly families with children, spending any more time here than is absolutely necessary," says Radomír Lašák, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prague Airport.
In the area of EES registration and optimisation, a detailed mapping of the journey from the kiosk to the border checkpoint will be conducted with the aim of increasing the success rate of completing registration. In addition, an EU-wide option to pre-register details prior to arrival in Prague, as well as briefing passengers whilst still on board flights, is currently underway. Immediate security and operational measures include the prompt reconfiguration of passenger corridors. The airport already has access to a heat map of critical peak arrival times.
For passengers waiting in queues, a dedicated EES Assistance Team will be deployed, as part of passenger care, whenever set waiting times are exceeded, they will automatically trigger the distribution of water and provide enhanced support for families with children and elderly passengers. "We do not simply want to manage the situation on an operational basis. We want to work with the Czech Police to establish a process that is stable in the long term and minimises the occurrence of similar situations. We will therefore assess the individual measures on an ongoing basis and adjust them further based on the results," adds Radomír Lašák.
The Board of Directors of Prague Airport would also like to thank the airport’s employees and members of the Czech Republic Police, who have been helping to manage the exceptionally heavy traffic in recent days.