Wait times at passport control across some of the busiest airports in the European Union have doubled this summer as the bloc’s new border system causes snaking lines during peak times.
According to new data from a report in the Financial Times, the biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) is causing waits at to soar up to 120 minutes during peak times. That’s compared to a peak wait time in 2025 of only 60 minutes.
Major E.U. hubs like Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, and more have seen passport control lines that take twice as long, too.
Peak times at Frantfurt have reached 120 minutes, Munich has seen wait times jump from 31 to 60 minutes, and Amsterdam’s peak windows have ballooned from 80 minute waits to 120 minutes.
The situation has made it incredibly difficult for travelers from outside the E.U. to predict how their airport process might unfold.
Although the peak travel times can see two-hour lines, other time frames see minimal wait times.
The new system fully launched on April 10 and requires every traveler from outside the E.U. to scan their passport and do a facial scan. First-time users of the system must also register their fingerprints.
The biometric data is designed to be more secure and reliable than a traditional passport stamp, which has now been phased out in the E.U.
The EES was designed to seamlessly process each passenger, however, this summer has seen the kiosks malfunctioning, as well as travelers needing more assistance than initially thought, increasing the complications of getting fliers registered in the system.
The snaking queues have led some major airports to simply switch off the EES during peak travel times and revert back to manual passport checks.
Although that might be a good short-term solution for travelers who’d otherwise be stuck in an hours-long line, experts say that bypassing the system during peak travel times could skew wait time data and complicate the assessment of how the technology is performing overall.
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