Overview
- European Commission officials say Portugal and Italy will keep the Entry/Exit System (EES) for all nationalities, a regime that replaced passport stamping on April 10 and records fingerprints and a face scan for non‑EU visitors.
- Greece is not collecting EES biometrics from British travellers, though Brussels notes EU rules allow only short, location‑specific pauses rather than blanket exemptions for one nationality.
- Reports from major hubs in Spain and Italy describe lines of three to four hours and missed departures, including 122 easyJet passengers left in Milan last month as passport‑control queues built.
- Airlines are pressing for relief and warning customers to arrive early, with Ryanair urging a summer pause and moving airport check‑in cutoffs earlier, and easyJet telling passengers it may not wait for those held up at border checks.
- Rollout quality varies by airport as some border posts pause checks during peak surges and some travellers clear in seconds once enrolled for three years, while others face kiosk failures or repeated re‑registration that slows the lines.