Heidi Alexander, addressing parliament’s transport committee on Wednesday (17 June), said she would talk to the European Union about what could be done to relieve potential bottlenecks at EU airports during the summer peak when passengers are required to complete biometric registration.
The EU has said easement – relaxing EES registration or pausing biometric checks at times of congestion – will only be available until September.
Committee Chair Ruth Cadbury said the amount of time before easement was granted needed to be cut to “within a very few hours, not seven hours”. She added those already registered for the EES should not have to wait in the same line as those that had not.
Alexander was asked if easement should be extended. “I do think we need to see how it goes over the next couple of months and need to ensure planning for the summer period is rigorous," she said. “I would be happy to consider what more we could do with our European counterparts to provide reassurance and confidence in the system.”
She said she would also liaise with the Home Office. Alexander admitted there had been difficulties at Dover, where ferry passengers register before departure.
“We did experience some problems in Dover in May half term," she continued. "We will be working quite closely with our French counterparts. Ideally, we would avoid the scenes we saw for a few hours on the bank holiday weekend."
Jet fuel supply
Alexander said she was in regular discussions with airlines and suppliers over jet fuel. “All the indications are people should not be experiencing major disruption in the coming months," she stressed. “All the contact I have had with the airlines, they told me they have not experienced any shortage to jet fuel.”
However, she warned: “The impact of the disruption to oil coming out of the Strait of Hormuz will have a very long economic tail.”
Alexander said she had “not quite daily, but almost weekly” talks with the Department for Energy and Net Zero which had asked the four UK refineries to step up jet fuel production.
On Heathrow’s third runway, she said a National Policy Statement covering expansion of the airport would be published over the summer, with the committee scrutinising it in the autumn.
She warned an increase in military spending would impact the Department for Transport, which has the second highest capital budget after defence, but said Heathrow would be privately financed.
