Brits warned to prepare for delays as EES introduced at dozens more airports
Holidaymakers have been warned to allow extra time at the airport as new border controls cause significant delays for air passengers.
The European entry/exit system - commonly called the EES - is an automated digital border system for non-EU nationals, including UK citizens, entering the Schengen Area, which includes most of the EU, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
Travellers are now required to register biometric details, including fingerprints and photographs.
The rollout began in October 2025 but airports and ports have until April to introduce the technology, when it will become mandatory.
The new system has already been causing significant delays for air passengers.
Initially, the threshold for EU countries to register third-country arrivals was set at only 10 per cent. This has now increased to 35 per cent.
Travel trade association ABTA is now urging greater use of contingency measures by EU border officials as the EES rollout expands, according to Euro News.
The new border checks are already causing headaches for passengers, who have reported long lines as people navigate the processing procedures for the first time. In some cases, delays have resulted in passengers missing their flights.
The EU's digital border system will become mandatory in April 2026 at ports and airports in the Schengen Area
Over the Christmas period, processing times for passengers escalated by 70 per cent for the new checks caused by the rollout of the EU's new entry and exit system, the Airports Council International (ACI) in Brussels reported.
Other sources warned of 'serious concerns of bedlam next summer' if the chaos continued.
In December last year, a report from Airport Council International (ACI) Europe highlighted the extent of this disruption and called for an urgent review of the system.
'The progressive scaling‑up of the registration and capture of biometric data from third country nationals entering the Schengen area has resulted in border control processing times at airports increasing by up to 70 per cent, with waiting times of up to three hours at peak traffic periods,' the ACI review found.
ABTA says that passengers' experience of the EES rollout so far has been varied, from relatively smooth to incidents where large queues have formed at passport control.
With countries now required to process 35 per cent of third-party nationals entering the EU, there are concerns that the problems will worsen.
ABTA is urging border authorities to apply the contingency measures available to them.
'The EES is a change to how we travel to and from Europe, and while eventually it will make passport checks quicker, initially it may take longer,' said Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA.
ABTA says that passengers' experience of the EES rollout so far has been varied, from relatively smooth to incidents where large queues have formed at passport control
ABTA has also offered advice for travellers required to use the EES.
'If you are departing the EU, we're advising passengers to go straight to passport control as soon as they have gone through check-in and security, that way you get the EES checks out of the way as early as possible,' the association says.
It also urges travellers to follow their transport providers' advice on when to arrive at airports, ports and other departure points.
'The usual rule is to arrive at the airport for a flight to Europe at least two hours before, so we'd encourage people to apply that as a minimum, but to also check with their transport provider,' it says.
