The European airports where Brits are facing hours-long queues and missed flights due to the new Entry/Exit System rules
Holidaymakers have reported lengthy delays at popular airport hubs across Europe in the wake of the full implementation of new digital border controls – with frustrated tourists complaining of hours-long queues and chaos in countries from France to Portugal.
The new Entry/Exit System, known as EES, has been slowly rolled out across Europe since October, with 29 countries now bringing in the new biometric border control process.
Under the new rules, any non-EU nationals, including UK citizens, who enter the Schengen Area are required to register biometric details, including fingerprints and photographs.
They will also need to provide proof of accommodation, sufficient funds, medical insurance and a return ticket.
The EES was fully implemented at airports across Europe by April 10, with all third-country nationals required to register from now onwards.
But as predicted by many experts, the knock-on effect has been detrimental to travel, with long queues at destinations including Paris, Lisbon and Malta.
Airports in 15 countries have reported ‘very bad’ delays, according to the Financial Times – with queues of up to three hours in many destinations, the Airports Council International (ACI) reported.
Here’s a rundown of the European countries and airports where Brits are facing hours-long queues and missed flights due to the new Entry/Exit System rules…
Portugal
Airports across Europe have already faced long queues, including Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport (pictured)
Olivier Jankovec, director of the ACI European division, told the FT: ‘We are seeing those queueing times now, at peak times, when traffic is just starting to build up.’
So congested and problematic were the queues in Lisbon, Porto and Faro that airports actually suspended EES registration over the weekend to prevent delays.
It comes after reports of delays at Humberto Delgado, Francisco Sá Carneiro, and Gago Coutinho airports.
Two travellers at Lisbon Airport over the weekend were amongst those facing a long wait at passport control.
Ex UK and EU diplomat Rupert Joy said the new system was in disarray in the Portuguese capital’s major transport hub.
He wrote on social media platform X: ‘Complete chaos at Lisbon airport. Loads of people missing flights despite arriving hours in advance because of insanely long queues to passport control. No one seems to be in control or to have any idea what to do.’
Another traveller said he’d experienced a similar scenario, writing: ‘Having the machines at the start of the queue before going through passport control just caused a massive queue leaving Lisbon.’
Meanwhile, one Reddit user said of Lisbon airport: ‘Line was hours long stretching through the whole very long terminal and then outside… Security has stopped using the new system and were stamping passports as fast as they could.’
Poland
Krakow Airport has reportedly seen delays and two-hour queues
Airports in Poland have also been affected by queues and delays.
One traveller shared their experience on X, and penned: ‘Holy c**p the new EES passport system is a nightmare.
‘Two hours at arrival at Krakow. 90 minutes on departure. Give yourself plenty of time if you’re travelling around Europe.’
Another on the social media platform said they were even reconsidering their plans because of the new process.
They wrote: ‘Rethinking my holiday/travel plans for this year and next, having been to Prague in Jan and Krakow this month.
‘The European entry/exit system (EES) was a nightmare – both going in and out. Despite the very best efforts of the excellent staff at both airports. Hours queuing.’
Belgium
The rollout of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) has continued to cause delays. Pictured are queues for passport control at Brussels Airport
Disruption has been reported in Belgium this week.
Passengers waiting to have their passports checked at Brussels Airport have been reporting delays of up to two hours.
According to Airports Council International, Brussels among other hubs saw significant disruption to flight operations, with passengers missing flights and delays due to prolonged border processing times.
Yesterday, one Reddit user posted: ‘Landed in Brussels this morning – three+ hour wait. Have an eight-month-old and we had to breastfeed her in line.’
Netherlands
Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam has also faced disruption
New travel rules caused disruption on Monday, with passengers waiting to have their passports checked at Schiphol in Amsterdam taking to social media to report delays of up to two hours.
One passenger in Amsterdam described ‘elderly people and parents with toddlers’ waiting in line for passport gates, ‘hardly any’ of which were open.
The airport’s website confirmed there were ‘long delays’.
Italy
Passengers left behind in Milan Linate airport yesterday due to border control chaos
In heatwave-hit Milan, airline passengers were left vomiting and passing out after waiting for up to three hours over the weekend.
An easyJet spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘We are aware that some passengers departing from Milan Linate experienced longer than usual waiting times at passport control and we advised customers due to fly to allow additional time to make their way through the airport.
‘We continue to urge border authorities to ensure they make full and effective use of the permitted flexibilities for as long as needed while EES is implemented, to avoid these unacceptable border delays for our customers.’
At Milan’s Malpensa Airport, it was a similar scenario. ‘Two hours after landing and I’m still an hour from clearing passport control. Good job. Good try,’ another delayed passenger fumed.
Spain
The new biometric Entry/Exit System machines at Malaga Airport in Spain
Spanish airports have been hit by long queues and delays too, including Palma Majorca and Tenerife airports.
One British tourist, Jack Howes, told the Daily Mail how a recent trip to Spain was a ‘disaster’ as the EES hampered his travels through Almeria Airport.
He said: ‘There was an assistant who said, ‘It’s s**t but you have to keep trying.”
After getting rejected by the machine four times, Jack was told to go to a manual checkout instead – however there was no one working on the manual desk.
‘So in the end I just went to the gate and it let me through anyway,’ he said.
France
Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris was also affected by long queues
According to VisaHQ, France’s main hubs faced four-hour immigration queues and repeated equipment failures over the weekend.
Problems with IT systems and cyber security were reported, while many airports only recorded personal information and not biometrics, the European Commission and Airports Council International said.
Regarding France, and elsewhere, Olivier Jankovec said: ‘We need the ability to fully suspend EES registration whenever there are excessive waiting times at border control that are just unmanageable.’
‘Organised chaos’ was described.
Aviation analytics provider Schengen90 reported 240-minute waits at Charles De Gaulle on Saturday, 11 April.
Over in Paris, a parent travelling with a child, believed to be at Charles de Gaulle airport wrote: ‘Absolutely ridiculous queue for passport control.
‘EU passport with a child under 12, I’ve been queuing for over two hours and still there’s at least a hundred people ahead of me.’
Germany
Berlin Airport is another core European hub which has seen delays
The FT has reported queues of up to three hours in some German hubs.
VisaHQ said: ‘Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin reported queues of up to three hours as passengers were funnelled to biometric kiosks to give fingerprints and facial scans before proceeding to passport control.’
Berlin Airport’s website adds: ‘Travellers should expect longer waiting times, especially during the initial implementation phase. Even in the long term, border control may take more time due to the additional steps required for EES registration.’
Greece
In Greece, queues have been reported at destinations including Rhodes
Likewise, airports across Greece have faced delays and queues.
Rhodes Airport in particular has been affected, with many passengers taking to Facebook to share their experiences.
One wrote: ‘From my experience the queue was definitely longer than before, but not terrible. I waited around 45 minutes because there were a few flights arriving at the same time. People arriving earlier or when it’s quieter seemed to get through much faster, but if several UK flights land together I could easily see it taking over an hour.’
Another wrote on Tripadvisor: ‘There were a number of the machines but they were all switched off. However the border control staff in the passport booths were manually doing the EES registration for passengers.
‘Obviously this meant that it was taking longer to get through passport control but I imagine it might actually be quicker than people trying to use the machines themselves.
‘However, six flights from UK landed within 40 minutes and it didn’t take long for the queue to be going out of the door.’
