Travel analysts are sounding the alarm that non-EU passengers arriving in Paris this festive season could face waits of up to four hours at passport control. The culprit is the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), which since 12 October has required first-time Schengen visitors – including British nationals post-Brexit – to provide fingerprints and a facial image before entering France. With holiday traffic peaking, queues are already lengthening at the Charles-de-Gaulle (CDG) and Orly terminals as border staff enroll travellers in the central database.
Under the phased roll-out, once a traveller’s biometrics are on file, subsequent trips within three years need only a facial scan. But easing in the system just before Christmas has created a perfect storm: large volumes of first-timers coincide with a season when French airports typically process more than 200,000 passengers a day. Airlines and tour operators are urging customers to arrive at least three to four hours before departure and to keep boarding passes handy for exit validation.
For corporate mobility teams the implications go beyond holiday inconvenience. Executives on tight turn-around meetings risk missing connections, while air-cargo couriers and on-call engineers may breach service-level agreements if stuck in arrivals halls. French employers that routinely host UK-based staff are being advised to schedule meetings later in the day or offer virtual options until the learning curve stabilises.
![Biometric EU border checks trigger warning of four-hour queues at Paris airports over Christmas]()
Travellers looking to reduce the stress of new border formalities can enlist the help of VisaHQ, an online platform that simplifies visa and passport arrangements and provides real-time guidance on French entry protocols. Its dedicated France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) explains current biometric requirements, visa categories and appointment scheduling, giving first-time Schengen visitors a clearer path to compliance before they ever reach the airport.
The French border police (PAF) say they have installed extra EES kiosks and redeployed officers from quieter land crossings, yet unions warn staffing remains “sub-optimal”. A full complement will not be in place until after the February 2026 school break, by which time EES will also collect iris data at selected airports.
Practical tips for travellers include completing airline pre-screening questions online, avoiding peak arrival waves (07:00-10:00 and 17:00-20:00) and using priority lanes if eligible. Longer term, companies should educate employees about Schengen-wide 90/180-day stay limits, because EES will flag overstays automatically.
Under the phased roll-out, once a traveller’s biometrics are on file, subsequent trips within three years need only a facial scan. But easing in the system just before Christmas has created a perfect storm: large volumes of first-timers coincide with a season when French airports typically process more than 200,000 passengers a day. Airlines and tour operators are urging customers to arrive at least three to four hours before departure and to keep boarding passes handy for exit validation.
For corporate mobility teams the implications go beyond holiday inconvenience. Executives on tight turn-around meetings risk missing connections, while air-cargo couriers and on-call engineers may breach service-level agreements if stuck in arrivals halls. French employers that routinely host UK-based staff are being advised to schedule meetings later in the day or offer virtual options until the learning curve stabilises.
Travellers looking to reduce the stress of new border formalities can enlist the help of VisaHQ, an online platform that simplifies visa and passport arrangements and provides real-time guidance on French entry protocols. Its dedicated France portal (https://www.visahq.com/france/) explains current biometric requirements, visa categories and appointment scheduling, giving first-time Schengen visitors a clearer path to compliance before they ever reach the airport.
The French border police (PAF) say they have installed extra EES kiosks and redeployed officers from quieter land crossings, yet unions warn staffing remains “sub-optimal”. A full complement will not be in place until after the February 2026 school break, by which time EES will also collect iris data at selected airports.
Practical tips for travellers include completing airline pre-screening questions online, avoiding peak arrival waves (07:00-10:00 and 17:00-20:00) and using priority lanes if eligible. Longer term, companies should educate employees about Schengen-wide 90/180-day stay limits, because EES will flag overstays automatically.
