HEADING to the airport this summer? Getting through border control could take hours longer than usual.
Airlines have warned that holidaymakers could face delays of up to four hours at European airports during peak months due to EES registration.
The Entry/Exit system for Brits heading abroad was first introduced in October 2025.
Non-EU travellers must use the new machines which record biometric data like fingerprints and photographs to track entries, exits in the Schengen area.
But these new rules have already caused delays for Brits and officials have warned there will be more to come.
Late last year, disgruntled Brits heading on holiday reported two hour delays at arrivals in Lanzarote.
There were also three hour queues in Lisbon and even longer in Prague back in December.
Airports Council International, Airlines for Europe and Iata, the airline trade body, have warned about further delays during the summer.
They said there are already “persistent excessive waiting times of up to two hours at airport border control.”
They added: “Failing immediate action to provide sufficient flexibility, severe disruptions over the peak summer months are a real prospect, with queues potentially reaching four hours or more.”
Olivier Jankovec, the director general of ACI, added that “non-EU travellers are experiencing massive delays and inconvenience. This must come to an end immediately.”
At the moment, there are no plans to delay the EES rollout, as it’s set to complete in April 2026.
With the number of travellers likely to increase over the summer period – delays are also predicted to increase.
ACI has said that the capturing of biometric data entering the Schengen area has resulted in border control processing times at airports increasing by up to 70 per cent.
Factors in the delays include the unavailability of self-service kiosks.
As well as the unavailability of Automated Border Control (ABC) gates for EES processing, and the unavailability of an effective pre-registration app.
At the moment, 35 per cent of arrivals are required to go through digital registration.
For more on EES checks, here’s everything you need to know about them from a travel expert.
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