The EU’s quest for friction-free borders has taken a decisive step forward: Prague’s Václav Havel Airport (PRG) will host the Schengen area’s first live test of a “Digital Travel App” that lets passengers complete Entry/Exit System (EES) formalities on their phone before departure. Authorised on 1 December by the Council and developed by EU tech agency eu-LISA, the app scans an e-passport chip, captures the traveller’s selfie and a short questionnaire, and then generates a QR code that triggers an automated e-gate on arrival.
Czech Border Police confirmed on Monday that the three-month pilot will start in Q1 2026 on selected flights from Dubai, Tel Aviv and New York. PRG processed 6.8 million non-EU arrivals between January and October 2025, and queues at the new manual EES booths can exceed 40 minutes at peak times. eu-LISA modelling suggests the app could cut average clearance to 90 seconds, freeing officers to focus on high-risk profiles.
![EU Chooses Prague Airport for First Pilot of New “Digital Travel App”]()
For businesses headquartered in Czechia—think Honeywell, DHL or PPF—the upside is measurable. Travel-management firm CWT calculates that a mid-sized Czech company books roughly 4,200 intra-EU trips a year; shaving three minutes per traveller amounts to 210 work-hours saved. However, mobility teams will have homework: travellers must still comply with ETIAS once it goes live in 2026, and companies must store biometric data in line with both Czech and EU privacy rules.
Border Police plan multilingual webinars for corporate travel managers in February and will publish a passenger guide in Czech, English, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. If Prague’s trial succeeds, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Barcelona are pencilled in for roll-out by late 2026, making Czechia an early influencer of how the Digital Travel App evolves.
Czech Border Police confirmed on Monday that the three-month pilot will start in Q1 2026 on selected flights from Dubai, Tel Aviv and New York. PRG processed 6.8 million non-EU arrivals between January and October 2025, and queues at the new manual EES booths can exceed 40 minutes at peak times. eu-LISA modelling suggests the app could cut average clearance to 90 seconds, freeing officers to focus on high-risk profiles.
For businesses headquartered in Czechia—think Honeywell, DHL or PPF—the upside is measurable. Travel-management firm CWT calculates that a mid-sized Czech company books roughly 4,200 intra-EU trips a year; shaving three minutes per traveller amounts to 210 work-hours saved. However, mobility teams will have homework: travellers must still comply with ETIAS once it goes live in 2026, and companies must store biometric data in line with both Czech and EU privacy rules.
Border Police plan multilingual webinars for corporate travel managers in February and will publish a passenger guide in Czech, English, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. If Prague’s trial succeeds, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Barcelona are pencilled in for roll-out by late 2026, making Czechia an early influencer of how the Digital Travel App evolves.
