Just six weeks after Vienna and Salzburg, Innsbruck became the third Austrian airport to activate the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) on 21 November 2025. The digital border-management platform captures fingerprints, facial images and travel-history data for every non-EU national entering or leaving the Schengen Area for short-term stays. Friday’s start-up marks the beginning of a four-month operational test that will run through the height of the Tyrolean winter-tourism season, when Innsbruck regularly handles several thousand British and other third-country ski holiday-makers per day.
Airport chief executive Marco Pernetta told local media that the roll-out poses “a major challenge” because each first-time EES enrolment can add 30–60 seconds to the passport-control process. To keep queues manageable, the airport is erecting four additional inspection booths and has deployed roving staff to help travellers use the new self-service kiosks. Austrian police officers received extra biometric-capture training earlier this month, and backup IT links to the Interior Ministry’s databases were stress-tested during overnight maintenance windows.
![Innsbruck Airport launches test phase of EU Entry/Exit System]()
For businesses, the change ends the long-standing practice of using passport stamps to calculate 90/180-day allowances. Multinationals with seasonal contractors in the Alps have been advised to update internal tracking tools and remind workers that single-day cross-border trips to Switzerland no longer “reset the clock”. Travel-management company Egencia expects the new system to have the greatest impact on weekend charter flights from the UK, Norway and Iceland, where first-time EES users could represent up to 70 % of passengers.
The Innsbruck pilot is part of a phased Austrian deployment that began at Vienna International Airport on 12 October, extended to Salzburg on 12 November and will reach Graz on 26 November, followed by Linz and Klagenfurt on 3 December. Full EU-wide enforcement is scheduled for 10 April 2026, after which manual stamping of passports will cease entirely. Until then, travellers who have already provided biometrics will generally clear the border in under 15 seconds, according to the Interior Ministry.
Industry stakeholders welcomed the move. The Austrian Hotel Association said reliable border processing is “vital for a smooth peak season”, while the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce urged companies to brief non-EU staff early to avoid rejected entries. Innsbruck Airport has published a bilingual FAQ and recommends arriving at least 30 minutes earlier than before until the new procedures settle.
Airport chief executive Marco Pernetta told local media that the roll-out poses “a major challenge” because each first-time EES enrolment can add 30–60 seconds to the passport-control process. To keep queues manageable, the airport is erecting four additional inspection booths and has deployed roving staff to help travellers use the new self-service kiosks. Austrian police officers received extra biometric-capture training earlier this month, and backup IT links to the Interior Ministry’s databases were stress-tested during overnight maintenance windows.
For businesses, the change ends the long-standing practice of using passport stamps to calculate 90/180-day allowances. Multinationals with seasonal contractors in the Alps have been advised to update internal tracking tools and remind workers that single-day cross-border trips to Switzerland no longer “reset the clock”. Travel-management company Egencia expects the new system to have the greatest impact on weekend charter flights from the UK, Norway and Iceland, where first-time EES users could represent up to 70 % of passengers.
The Innsbruck pilot is part of a phased Austrian deployment that began at Vienna International Airport on 12 October, extended to Salzburg on 12 November and will reach Graz on 26 November, followed by Linz and Klagenfurt on 3 December. Full EU-wide enforcement is scheduled for 10 April 2026, after which manual stamping of passports will cease entirely. Until then, travellers who have already provided biometrics will generally clear the border in under 15 seconds, according to the Interior Ministry.
Industry stakeholders welcomed the move. The Austrian Hotel Association said reliable border processing is “vital for a smooth peak season”, while the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce urged companies to brief non-EU staff early to avoid rejected entries. Innsbruck Airport has published a bilingual FAQ and recommends arriving at least 30 minutes earlier than before until the new procedures settle.
