The company that runs the Channel Tunnel is raising alarms that a key component of the European Union’s new digital border security system may not be ready on time, with software instability threatening to push the biometric check rollout for car passengers past its September 6 deadline.
Getlink’s Chief Executive Yann Leriche said Thursday that the biometric portion of the EU’s Entry/Exit System has not yet been put in place for passenger vehicles traveling through the tunnel. He pointed to software supplied at the European level as the root of the problem, saying it has not yet reached a stable state.
The Entry/Exit System became fully active across the Schengen area in April, but it has already drawn concern from airline organizations and British officials who worry about travel disruptions during busy holiday travel periods.
Leriche was candid with reporters about the challenges, saying: “I’m not going to tell you that we aren’t experiencing any difficulties at all, because there’s one issue that affects us all and for which there is no obvious immediate solution: the software provided by the European Union.”
Getlink holds a concession to operate the Channel Tunnel through 2086 and has spent €80 million — roughly $91 million — upgrading its terminals to accommodate the new Entry/Exit System.
According to Leriche, wait times at the tunnel have mostly stayed between one and two hours, which he described as far more manageable than the significantly longer delays seen at some airports.
He also pushed back on negative coverage of the system, saying: “All this bad press — especially from the British side, since 80% of our tourists are British — ultimately creates a negative impression, even though, in reality, the problems are largely manageable if we do our job.”
On a separate legal front, the Paris-based company announced it has launched proceedings against the British government over a reassessment of business rates that resulted in its annual tax bill tripling. Leriche said Getlink would give the UK’s new government until the close of summer to revisit its stance before the company moves forward with the first formal stage of a legal challenge.
Despite these headwinds, Getlink raised its full-year earnings forecast to a range of €835 million to €870 million, up from a previous projection of €820 million to €860 million. That updated guidance assumes only limited disruption from the ongoing rollout of the new border entry system.
