Travelers heading
to Europe
this year may want to budget extra time upon arrival, as a new biometric border
system continues to be rolled out across the region.
The new Entry/Exit
System (EES) is designed to digitally track when non-EU and non-Schengen
visitors enter and leave participating countries. Instead of getting a passport
stamp, travelers now have their passports scanned, along with fingerprints and a
photo.
The new process
applies to short visits of up to 90 days within a 180-day period. That rule
hasn’t changed for visa-exempt travelers, including Americans. EU citizens,
residents and people with long-stay visas are not affected.
The EES phased
rollout began in October 2025 and is expected to be fully operational by April
10, 2026. However, some major airports in the region are already seeing massive
slowdowns at passport control.
According to the BBC, wait times of
three or four hours have been reported at peak times as passengers move through
the new scanning stations. Olivier Jankovec, director general of Airports
Council International Europe — which represents over 600 airports — said
passenger processing time has increased by “four to five times” with average wait
times lasting around two hours.
Several factors
are contributing to the delays, including a shortage of border staff and
technical issues with some of the new machines. Jankovec also worries that
things could get worse during major travel periods like Easter and the busy
summer season.
Markus Lammert,
European Commission Spokesperson for Internal Affairs, said the system has
already logged about 23 million entries and exits, along with roughly 12,000
denied entries. He maintains that it has been running “largely without issues,”
but admitted that member countries are still working to improve the process.
To help ease crowding
during busy summer months, countries are allowed to “partially suspend” EES operations and go
back to traditional passport checks if the electronic system becomes
overwhelmed — at least until September.
Jankovec said
airports would need to revert to the old system in order to handle the influx
of passengers if "the situation becomes unsustainable at border
control." If airports were to adhere solely to EES protocols, and staffing
and equipment functionality haven’t improved, he foresees wait times reaching
five or six hours.
Last week, UK
travel trade association ABTA urged border authorities to make better use of such
contingency measures, saying they have not always been used when needed. The
organization also called on destinations and border agencies to plan better for
peak travel periods.
For now, industry
experts advise passengers to expect delays, especially during the busy season,
and come prepared for extended waits. That might mean allowing extra time for
connections or arrivals, bringing snacks and keeping kids entertained while they’re
stuck in line.
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