The new system will log the passenger information of third-country nationals, including their biometric data, to track those entering and exiting the Schengen Area,

The new system will require passengers from outside the EU/Schengen Area to scan their passports at kiosks on their initial entry, as well as have their photograph and fingerprints taken. 

These new steps may cause significant delays in Zurich airport, the nation’s busiest and the home base of SWISS, the national carrier. 

READ MORE: What the EU’s new EES passport system will mean for people in Switzerland

Zurich airport officials told Watson.ch that the current 24-second process time for a passport check could more than triple to 93 seconds for a passenger’s first-time entry into Switzerland and double to 67 seconds for subsequent entries. 

First time EES checks take long because passengers will have to do the full checks and answer questions about their trip. On subsequent entries (unless a passengers gets a new passport) the checks will be repeated but finger prints won’t be taken so they will be slightly quicker.

To mitigate delays, Zurich will hire over 70 new staff, including 30 border officers and 41 assistants, although no start date for the new hires has been set.

Summer of delays

This warning comes amid an already challenging summer for Zurich Airport. Between June and July, nearly half of flights were delayed, with an average delay of 40 minutes. 

Swiss told Blick that several factors contributed to the delays, noting: “The wind and a complex runway system with intersecting take-off and landing strips regularly leads to a significant reduction in capacity.”

READ MORE: Why has Switzerland become so bad for flight delays and cancellations?

Having completed a major refurbishment in 2003, over the next decade the airport will be lengthening two of its runways to address these issues – although this work could also lead to delays. 

To further complicate matters, the airport also has one of the world’s strictest schedules, with flights grounded between 11.30pm and 6.00am.

Countrywide, a study by passenger rights portal FlightRight discovered that 40.43% of flights from Swiss airports arrived at their destination more than fifteen minutes late.