France’s airports, ferry ports and Eurotunnel terminals are bracing for their toughest test yet when the EU’s new Entry-Exit System (EES) becomes mandatory on 10 April 2026. The system requires every non-EU traveller—including the millions of British business visitors who cross the Channel each year—to be fingerprinted, photographed and entered into a central database the first time they pass a Schengen frontier. Since a ‘soft-launch’ began last October, the French border police (PAF) have only been obliged to register 35 % of eligible passengers. Even at that reduced level, peak-time queues at Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, Orly, Nice and Marseille have stretched to three hours, according to airport operator ADP and trade body ACI Europe.
From April the 35 % cap disappears. To clear the same number of passengers with 100 % biometric capture, border posts will need almost triple the number of staffed booths or fully-functional self-service kiosks—equipment that many airports have yet to finish integrating. Airport and airline associations have therefore written to the European Commission asking for “explicit, blanket flexibility” that would let border police suspend EES altogether during bottlenecks. France’s transport ministry has so far said it prefers to manage the situation locally, but insiders concede that July-August traffic could see five-hour waits unless extra officers are drafted in.
The stakes are high for corporate mobility teams. France handled roughly 6 million non-EU business trips in 2025; a repeat of last year’s Christmas-week gridlock would strand senior executives, cargo pilots and critical engineers. Travel managers are already advising staff to allow an additional two hours on departure and to prioritise flights before 08:00 or after 20:00 when border volumes are lower. Rail operator Eurostar has postponed the sale of additional summer seats until its new French-supplied kiosks are certified.
![Travel industry warns of summer chaos as France prepares full biometric border checks]()
Whether employees are heading to France or onward to other Schengen destinations, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork by securing the correct visas and passport renewals before departure—minimising surprises when EES checks begin. Their online platform (https://www.visahq.com/france/) consolidates embassy requirements, digital photo uploads and courier tracking, allowing travel coordinators to focus on itineraries instead of bureaucracy.
Airports are racing to add capacity. Paris-CDG has ordered 120 extra biometric kiosks, while Lyon Saint-Exupéry is converting an entire arrivals pier to mixed Schengen/third-country processing. Yet suppliers warn that global demand for passport readers and fingerprint sensors—fuelled by Canada, the Gulf states and the US—has pushed lead times to six months. In the meantime, the interior ministry has authorised overtime for 500 reservist border officers through September.
For businesses, the practical advice is clear: brief travellers on fingerprinting, schedule wider connection windows, and monitor daily capacity bulletins issued by ACI Europe. Firms moving equipment or samples should also build in extra time for dual-use export checks, which cannot be completed until the traveller is through immigration. Failure to factor in the new reality could mean missed client meetings, SLA penalties and costly aircraft-on-ground delays.
From April the 35 % cap disappears. To clear the same number of passengers with 100 % biometric capture, border posts will need almost triple the number of staffed booths or fully-functional self-service kiosks—equipment that many airports have yet to finish integrating. Airport and airline associations have therefore written to the European Commission asking for “explicit, blanket flexibility” that would let border police suspend EES altogether during bottlenecks. France’s transport ministry has so far said it prefers to manage the situation locally, but insiders concede that July-August traffic could see five-hour waits unless extra officers are drafted in.
The stakes are high for corporate mobility teams. France handled roughly 6 million non-EU business trips in 2025; a repeat of last year’s Christmas-week gridlock would strand senior executives, cargo pilots and critical engineers. Travel managers are already advising staff to allow an additional two hours on departure and to prioritise flights before 08:00 or after 20:00 when border volumes are lower. Rail operator Eurostar has postponed the sale of additional summer seats until its new French-supplied kiosks are certified.
Whether employees are heading to France or onward to other Schengen destinations, VisaHQ can streamline the paperwork by securing the correct visas and passport renewals before departure—minimising surprises when EES checks begin. Their online platform (https://www.visahq.com/france/) consolidates embassy requirements, digital photo uploads and courier tracking, allowing travel coordinators to focus on itineraries instead of bureaucracy.
Airports are racing to add capacity. Paris-CDG has ordered 120 extra biometric kiosks, while Lyon Saint-Exupéry is converting an entire arrivals pier to mixed Schengen/third-country processing. Yet suppliers warn that global demand for passport readers and fingerprint sensors—fuelled by Canada, the Gulf states and the US—has pushed lead times to six months. In the meantime, the interior ministry has authorised overtime for 500 reservist border officers through September.
For businesses, the practical advice is clear: brief travellers on fingerprinting, schedule wider connection windows, and monitor daily capacity bulletins issued by ACI Europe. Firms moving equipment or samples should also build in extra time for dual-use export checks, which cannot be completed until the traveller is through immigration. Failure to factor in the new reality could mean missed client meetings, SLA penalties and costly aircraft-on-ground delays.
