Warning as EU entry-exit system causing ‘three-hour waits’ at airports

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The EU digital border scheme is inflicting three-hour waits at passport management as officers battle with a 70 per cent improve within the time taken for border checks, says the group representing Europe’s airports.

Airports Council Worldwide (ACI) in Brussels is looking for an pressing evaluation of the entry-exit system (EES), which started to be rolled out throughout Europe in October. In the course of the six-month introduction, third-country nationals comparable to British travellers proceed to have their passports examined and stamped by frontier employees. However as well as, the EES requires fingerprints to be registered and a facial biometric to be taken. Many airports have had kiosks put in for that objective.

At current, just one in 10 travellers is required to bear digital registration. By 9 January 2026, the proportion is because of be raised to 35 per cent.

However Olivier Jankovec, director common of ACI in Europe, warned: “Important discomfort is already being inflicted upon travellers, and airport operations impacted with the present threshold for registering third-country nationals set at solely 10 per cent.

Simon Calder at entry-exit system kiosk at London St Pancras International — Simon Calder at entry-exit system kiosk at London St Pancras Worldwide (Elanor Forster)

Learn extra: I’m travelling to the EU. What has modified with the entry-exit system?

“Except all of the operational points we’re elevating immediately are absolutely resolved inside the coming weeks, rising this registration threshold to 35 per cent as of 9 January – as required by the EES implementation calendar – will inevitably end in far more extreme congestion and systemic disruption for airports and airways.

“This may presumably contain severe security hazards.”

“The EES can’t be about mayhem for travellers and chaos at our airports.”

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

The group is looking for the rollout schedule – which is because of be full by 9 April 2026 – to be moderated. It highlights a number of operational points with the deployment of the EES:

“Common EES outages undermining the predictability, regularity and resilience of border operations”“Persistent EES configuration issues, together with the partial deployment or unavailability of self-service kiosks utilized by travellers for registration and biometric knowledge seize”“Unavailability of an efficient pre-registration app”“Inadequate deployment of border guards at airports, which displays acute employees shortages”

The Impartial has requested the European Fee for remark.

Dr Nick Brown, an information scientist who has studied the entry-exit system intimately, instructed The Impartial: “The airports have had a very long time to arrange, together with an additional 12 months (in comparison with the preliminary launch) throughout which they already had the kiosks and will have run any variety of simulations and assessments with volunteers.”

Learn extra: Simon Calder assessments the brand new EU entry-exit system – the questions, scans and fingerprints demanded on the border

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