Malta International Airport has pledged to deploy temporary border control booths in the peak summer months to combat delays caused by the EU’s new entry-exit system (EES).

An MIA spokesperson tells WhosWho.mt that the airport has long been preparing for the rollout of the EES through significant upgrades across Arrivals and Departures.

These include an €11 million westward terminal expansion, completed in 2025, which introduced a new Schengen arrivals corridor and expanded the non-Schengen Arrivals Hall to accommodate additional border control booths and increase passenger processing capacity.

They added that further enhancements are ongoing in Departures, while contingency measures, including temporary border control booths, will be deployed during peak summer periods to further support passenger processing.

“We are aware of the concerns being raised around waiting times at immigration during peak hours, a challenge currently being experienced at airports across the EU, and we understand the impact on passengers and airline partners, such as Ryanair,” they said.

“While immigration controls fall under the responsibility of the Malta Police Force, we are working closely with them to support efficient flows by providing the necessary infrastructure, aligning operational planning, and monitoring traffic in real time.”

“We remain in regular contact with airlines and other stakeholders to anticipate peak demand and respond quickly where needed.”

“Malta continues to see strong demand, and we are confident that, through ongoing coordination, border processes will support both passenger experience and airline operations throughout the summer.”

The EES requires non-EU citizens to register their biometric information, including face scans and fingerprints, and have them checked whenever they cross a Schengen border.

It has been phased in since October but formally launched this month, with a chaotic opening reported across a number of airports, and some passengers who were due to fly from Milan to Manchester had to be left behind due to border check problems.

Locally, KM Malta Airlines Executive Chairman David Curmi warned that passenger processing times at Immigration are currently taking between three to four minutes, way beyond the 70 second average published by the European Commission when the EES was launched.

He stressed that the national airline won’t accept a situation where its operations are disrupted as a result of congestion at the immigration hall.

Ryanair has also warned that it could redirect capacity from Malta to other Mediterranean destinations if border check delays don’t improve.