EU entry-exit system warned to cause ‘three-hour wait’ at airports

KANIKA SINGH RATHORE,

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European Union The digital border scheme has led to wait times at passport control rising to three hours as officials struggle to cope with a 70 per cent increase in time taken. border check, The group representing Europe says airports,

The Airports Council International (ACI) in Brussels is demanding an urgent review Entry-Exit System (EES)Which started being implemented across Europe in October. During the initial six months, passports of third country nationals such as British travelers continue to be checked and stamped by frontier staff. But besides this, EES requires registering fingerprints and taking facial biometrics. Kiosks have been installed for this purpose at many airports.

Currently, only one in 10 passengers is required to do digital registration. By January 9, 2026, the percentage is to be increased to 35 percent.

But Olivier Jankovic, director general of ACI in Europe, warned: “Passengers are already experiencing significant inconvenience, and airport operations have been impacted by the current limit of registration for third country nationals, set at only 10 per cent.

Simon Calder at the entry-exit system kiosk at London St Pancras International
Simon Calder at the entry-exit system kiosk at London St Pancras International ,eleanor forster,

Read more: I am traveling to EU. What has changed in the entry-exit system?

“Unless all the operational issues we are raising today are fully resolved in the coming weeks, extending this registration limit to 35 per cent until January 9 – as required by the EES implementation calendar – will inevitably result in much more severe congestion and systemic disruption for airports and airlines.

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“This would potentially involve serious security risks.”

“EES cannot be about devastation and chaos for passengers at our airports.”

ACI says the worst impact is being felt at airports in France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

The group is calling for the rollout schedule – which is due to be completed by April 9, 2026 – to be moderated. This highlights several operational issues with the deployment of EES:

  • “Regular EES cuts impact the predictability, regularity and flexibility of border operations”
  • “Persistent EES configuration issues, including partial deployment or unavailability of self-service kiosks used by passengers for registration and biometric data capture”
  • “Non-availability of effective pre-registration app”
  • “Inadequate deployment of border guards airportsWhich shows a huge shortage of employees.”

Independent has asked European Commission For comment.

Dr. Nick Brown, a data scientist who studied the entry-exit system in detail, told Independent: “Airports have had significantly longer time to prepare, including an additional year (compared to the initial launch), during which they already had kiosks in place and could run any number of simulations and tests with volunteers.”

Read more: Simon Calder tests the new EU entry-exit system – FAQs, scans and fingerprints at the border

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