Calchas

I think it is taken to be the opposite of immigration control.

If we said "border control", you might think of problems where people are trying to enter the country. But this thread began with problems for people leaving.

We could use an expression like "exit control" instead, I suppose.

Ldnn1

That makes most sense to me, and I think is the ordinary term for it.

orbitmic

What I said is that "Schengen is one of the most safely controlled areas in the world", and I'm not really sure what part you are disagreeing with?

To answer cws's question on location, the 'Bangeman wave' was actually agreed in Madrid in 1992, specifically as a compromise between the EU Commissioner and the Kenneth Clarke.

The new regulation is part of the anti-terror legislation agreed by the Schengen area member states and it started applying in early April. It imposes the comparison of id data with the Schengen database for every passenger, which, in practice, has made scans both longer and harder to waive, but note that even before that, 'passport waving' had been the exception rather than the rule for years and in many countries would even be extremely rare as the 'Bangaman wave' principle itself was in fact abandoned a long time ago.

BlueThroughCrimp

Ahh! Now I wondered why I just showed the cover and was waved through going from Basel SNCF to Basel SBB many years ago.
Lazyness or the Bangemann wave. That's good to know. Thanks.

GVAfever

Came out of HAM tonight - had a shock meeting a 15-20min queue at Emigration (just before the BA gate) - 3 officers on duty, including an EU line but basically communal queue as I assume all pax undergoing same checks. Just made flight with doors closed behind us. No warning at Club check-in to expect queue, no queue-combing in emigration line. So be warned guys, allow extra time exiting any Schengen airport....

FlyingScientist

Do you expect French border officers to work during lunchtime?

orbitmic

The measures in France (Nice included) due to the 'etat d'urgence' mean that people flying to/from some Schengen countries are indeed temporarily id-checked but not to/from some others! Belgium, the Netherlands, or Greece are affected (seen as possible terror routes) but Italy, Germany, Scandinavia or Portugal are not.

A slight complication at NCE T1 specifically is that because the Schengen area is much larger and the departure area cannot be divided, everyone was id checked after security (but not upon arrivals as arrival corridors could be split more easily) but no sign of the global departure check today, only for the non-Schengen area.

catandmouse

NCE flights from GVA are supposedly domestic French flights as they depart from the French sector in GVA. However you randomly have to ID on arriving in NCE depending on whether you fly LX or EZS - I don't remember which - as they arrive in different terminals, one of which appears to be able to deal with domestic flights, the other not.

PUCCI GALORE

Steve - you are a pet - don't worry you will not be the first! You are certainly far more pleasant about it then some, I might add! Forthright people have to expect to ruffle some feathers - and frankly is you can't take it on this Board, you shouldn't dish it in the first place.

I am delighted if this is the case. Last week flying in from Barcelona (that was a madhouse) as we walked up the ramp to the Terminal, there were two policemen examining every passport. I agree that this has nothing to do with the present fiasco - and it is only a Fiasco because nobody prepared for it and presumably cares less. As such, it is in my view completely against the spirit if not the letter of Schengen - it would be like the State of Texas instituting identity checks on people arriving from other states arriving at DFW or IAH.

Update - HI has just WhatAp'd me from ALC - he has boarded the BA service to LGW which is well on time so far - he says that there were absolutely no problems at Passports (these are situated at the gate at ALC as many here know). He added that they were pleasant and that all the booths were manned.)

SWISSBOBBY

I have not been to NCE with EZY for a couple of years, but in the past have never been checked coming off the plane... interestingly you go through french customs again at NCE when you have already gone through customs at GVA before departure.

My recent flights with LX have always been id checked on departure from NCE despite as mentioned by catandmouse this being a domestic flight. It appeared all departures were being checked, as they have built a big new security checkpoint in T1

In GVA we only have passport checks going to and from the extra-shengen gates... normally B gates and C gates (some D possible) at the passport checkpoint there is the notional idea of EU+EEA+CH in one queue and All Passports in the other.

Not noticed queues any longer at GVA than normal recently.

orbitmic

The only differentiation in both terminals is Schengen/non-Schengen. It's enforced in exactly the same way at T1 (LX) and T2 (U2). Note that at times, the etat d'urgence and previously vigipirate have always allowed pro-active id checks in public places (including on the street, but in practice it's more often happened at airports or stations) but that's entirely unrelated to border checks and can just equally take place when you get off an ORY-BOD flight. Maybe that's what you experienced or another temporary measure.

fransknorge

All my flights between Germany and TLS are id-checked since the Etat d'urgence. They are using the non-Schengen area for all non-domestic flights since then.

corporate-wage-slave

It's probably a good stage to reiterate at this juncture that this thread is primarily aimed at those flying BA from the European mainland - and I'm just as guilty of the thread drift as anyone. It's good to hear that it's not too serious at ALC, GVA and arriving at PMI.

Oaxaca

Although the reported delays are genuine to the extent that there have been delays of 30-60 mins (and maybe longer on rare occasions) at both arrival and departure passport control in PMI this summer, the frequency and overall severity of these delays has been somewhat overblown by the usual media suspects. Most of the time it's no more than 5 mins, and security on departure is always efficient. It's at its worst when Russian flights are arriving or departing, since most passengers need the full passport control experience.

As an aside IME, BA flights nearly always get a jetbridge at PMI, the exception seems to be flights operated by E70s, which often end up with a remote stand for reasons unknown to me. I've only flown BA to/from LCY/LHR though, don't know about EDI flights.

Fitch

AMS passport control this morning at 10am was fine, but the BA check-in desks had horrible queues when I walked past. It looked like the longest was for CE but surely that many people can't have status ? 😁😁😁