Switzerland is heading into the busiest travel fortnight of the year with two new border-management tools that many holidaymakers have yet to experience. An 8 December report in The Local reminds travellers that the European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is already live at Basel and Geneva airports and will be operational at Zurich by mid-December. The biometric platform records every entry and departure of non-EU nationals and automatically calculates remaining days of stay, replacing manual passport stamps.
For most visitors the process is straightforward: first-time entrants must register fingerprints and facial images at a kiosk or with a border officer, while subsequent crossings are verified automatically. But the State Secretariat for Migration warns that first-time enrolment can add three to five minutes per passenger, a potential choke point on peak days of 22-24 December and 2-6 January. Carriers have been instructed to open check-in earlier and to brief ground-staff on troubleshooting common kiosk errors.
![Christmas Travel Alert: New EES & UK ETA Rules Face Their First Swiss Holiday Rush]()
Meanwhile, Switzerland-bound travellers transiting the United Kingdom will face an additional layer: London has confirmed that its new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirement will apply to Swiss citizens from 15 December. Although the online permit costs only £10 and is valid for two years, failure to obtain it in advance will result in denied boarding at Swiss airports, according to IATA Timatic notices circulated this week. Business-travel consultants advise multinational companies to update travel-booking flows and corporate intranets immediately, given the high volume of Swiss executives who route through Heathrow.
Swiss airports insist they are prepared. Extra staff have been rostered, and Zurich has set up “EES help zones” near the passport booths. Still, mobility managers are urging staff to allow an extra 45 minutes and to complete UK ETA applications no later than 72 hours before departure. The Federal Office of Civil Aviation will publish an after-action report in January to gauge the systems’ performance and passenger-experience impact.
For most visitors the process is straightforward: first-time entrants must register fingerprints and facial images at a kiosk or with a border officer, while subsequent crossings are verified automatically. But the State Secretariat for Migration warns that first-time enrolment can add three to five minutes per passenger, a potential choke point on peak days of 22-24 December and 2-6 January. Carriers have been instructed to open check-in earlier and to brief ground-staff on troubleshooting common kiosk errors.
Meanwhile, Switzerland-bound travellers transiting the United Kingdom will face an additional layer: London has confirmed that its new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) requirement will apply to Swiss citizens from 15 December. Although the online permit costs only £10 and is valid for two years, failure to obtain it in advance will result in denied boarding at Swiss airports, according to IATA Timatic notices circulated this week. Business-travel consultants advise multinational companies to update travel-booking flows and corporate intranets immediately, given the high volume of Swiss executives who route through Heathrow.
Swiss airports insist they are prepared. Extra staff have been rostered, and Zurich has set up “EES help zones” near the passport booths. Still, mobility managers are urging staff to allow an extra 45 minutes and to complete UK ETA applications no later than 72 hours before departure. The Federal Office of Civil Aviation will publish an after-action report in January to gauge the systems’ performance and passenger-experience impact.
