Minister responds to airport border delays: 'Resources are at capacity'

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri said that Malta’s resources allocated to the EU’s new Entry/Exit System are already operating at full capacity, as the country braces for a busy summer season.

Camilleri told the Times of Malta that all available resources were being fully deployed and would continue to be used throughout the summer.

“I am confident that our resources are already at full capacity and will remain so.

"However, decisions about the system are not in my hands or Malta’s, as this is a European system,” he continued. “As for the airport booths, all those provided will be staffed by the appropriate personnel.”

The automated system, administered by the police, requires all non-EU travellers to register at the border by scanning their passports, providing fingerprints and having their photograph taken.

The system is designed to curb misuse of visa-free travel, detect false identities and prevent irregular migration by using biometric data to track overstays.

Camilleri said that, if necessary, staff would work overtime to manage demand, noting that authorities were expecting “lots and lots of tourists” in the months ahead.

He added that travellers should prepare in advance before arriving at the airport.

The registration process takes between 40 seconds and one-and-a-half minutes per passenger on average. “Malta is doing everything to reduce that time,” he noted.

The minister said that the number of security officers assigned to border control had already increased.

Last month, non-EU passengers travelling through Malta experienced delays of more than 40 minutes at immigration, with some at risk of missing their flights after long waits at police border control.

At least one travel agent formally complained to the government about the situation.

Camilleri noted that such delays were not unique to Malta and had been reported at several busy airports across Europe, particularly those handling flights to and from outside the Schengen area.

“In our case, we have a very busy airport which has many flights coming from Europe but also many flights from outside Europe.”

Malta International Airport handled a record 10 million passengers last year, with one in five travellers arriving from the UK.

The airport said last month that work was under way to ease the pressure on immigration facilities. A spokesperson said the terminal had recently undergone an €11 million westward expansion of around 1,500 square metres.

The project introduced a new Schengen arrivals corridor by March 2025, freeing up space to expand the non-Schengen arrivals hall and install the infrastructure required for the Entry/Exit System.

The expansion was completed in June 2025, increasing immigration processing capacity with six new booths, in addition to the existing five.

Further works are also taking place in the departures area, which is being reconfigured to add more immigration booths outside Gates 11-18 and inside five Schengen departure gates by this month.