Overview
- A survey by ACI Europe of 45 airports on 26 May found peak waiting times reaching about three-and-a-half hours at busy periods.
- The Entry-Exit System replaces passport stamping with biometric registration of fingerprints and facial images for non-EU travellers and has logged roughly 80 million crossings and about 35,000 refusals since rollout began in October.
- Some national authorities have used temporary suspensions or manual desk processing to clear backlogs, including measures at Dover by France’s border police and limited pauses in Greece, Italy and Portugal.
- Wizz Air UK boss Yvonne Moynihan told the BBC passengers should arrive three hours before flights because slower biometric checks have caused people to miss return and connecting services, with airlines reporting incidents such as more than 100 passengers missing an EasyJet flight from Milan Linate.
- The European Commission says EES is working at most border points and allows short, targeted suspensions under exceptional circumstances, but airports and airlines warn that technical faults, low kiosk use and staff shortages could make disruption worse as summer volumes rise.