It comes amid reports that Brits jetting to the continent are facing travel chaos across summer holiday destinations such as Majorca and Barcelona, as tougher security is rolled out in airports.
The new regime affects travellers entering the Schengen area, where borders between countries in the area are open.
The tougher checks have been introduced following the Paris and Brussels terror attacks, the Metro reported. Passenger details are examined against EU and Interpol criminal databases when they arrive, and also when they leave again.
At Barcelona El Prat airport the delays have been made worse, with security staff deliberately taking 10 minutes to process every passenger, as part of a protest against overwork.
Other airports affected include Madrid Barajas, Amsterdam Schipol, Paris Orly, Brussels and Milan. Greece, Denmark and Austria are also expected to adopt the new rules in the next few weeks.
At Barcelona El Prat airport the delays have been made worse, with security staff deliberately taking 10 minutes to process every passenger, as part of a protest against overwork.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, said: “Airlines UK wrote to the Department for Transport about this issue back in May, following similar problems reported at some airports, notably in southern Europe, over the busy Easter period.
“Ministers responded in June to say they were encouraged by the lack of any further reports of disruption since the implementation of these changes. Clearly the situation has changed markedly as we enter peak holiday season, and it is now up to the UK government to work with industry to use whatever influence it can within the EU to persuade Schengen member states to resource their border operations properly.
“This ‘resourcing up’ has failed to happen thus far and it is passengers and consumers – many of whom are from the UK - who are suffering as a consequence.”
There are 26 Schengen countries, with only six of the 28 EU member states outside the Schengen zone - Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Ireland, Romania and the UK.
