Overview
- Airports and airlines report border waits regularly reaching two hours at peaks after Tuesday’s step-up to 100% biometric registration for all non‑EU arrivals under the Entry/Exit System.
- Passengers are missing flights at Spanish hubs such as Málaga, with reports of families arriving three hours early yet failing to clear bag drop and security before boarding closes.
- Airport and airline bodies including ACI Europe, A4E and IATA urge the EU and member states to keep the option to partly or fully pause EES during busy periods, and Belgium has already suspended its rollout over excessive queues.
- The UK has told travellers to allow extra time, and it has funded Eurostar, Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover to add kiosks and pre‑departure checks, while first‑time EES registration remains free and creates a record valid for three years.
- Operators blame staff shortages, faulty self‑service kiosks, limited automated‑gate use and weak uptake of pre‑registration tools, with further pressure expected as manual passport stamping ends around 9–10 April and summer traffic builds.