Adaptation of the level of checks on civil air traffic to the Schengen provisions The principles governing checks at airports, being external borders, are the same as those governing checks on travellers elsewhere, for instance at road checkpoints. However, in contrast to the latter, time is a key factor in air traffic, largely on account of flight connections. Hence the need to reconcile security requirements and time constraints. In cases of doubt, however, priority should always be given to security requirements. The duration of the entire control procedure depends on the workload of the border control staff but also on a range of other factors such as the number of passengers, their make-up, the structure of the buildings, etc.
Circumstances vary from one airport to another.
According to studies undertaken by IATA, if the average duration of checks on passengers exceeds 40 seconds, the airport's functioning is considerably disrupted. These results are borne out by tests carried out on the basis of the Schengen provisions on controls. Given that space and reception facilities are limited, this situation cannot be changed overnight, even if staff levels are increased. This is why, in addition to deploying extra staff, special arrangements must be made at airports to enable compliance with the level of Schengen controls and to ensure that time spent on checks is not incompatible with the time constraints imposed by the other systems that must be taken into account, such as international air traffic. A distinction should be made between organisational measures which are feasible in the short term and measures based on complex technology which, by their very nature, take longer to implement.