Europe’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) – the biometric border scheme that went live last October – is coming under intense pressure from airports and airlines, which warn that British holiday-makers could face queues of up to four hours at Schengen frontiers this summer unless the roll-out is slowed. In an open letter to the European Commission, industry bodies ACI Europe, Airlines for Europe and IATA cited “persistent excessive waiting times of up to two hours” even at current low throughput levels and demanded the option to suspend the system during July and August. (independent.co.uk)
The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder reports that only 35 % of third-country passengers are presently being processed through EES kiosks; by April the legal target rises to 100 %. The trade groups say chronic understaffing, patchy installation of self-service kiosks and a still-unreleased pre-registration app mean the infrastructure is nowhere near ready. Geneva – gateway to the Alps for tens of thousands of UK skiers – and Spain’s Canary Islands were highlighted as specific pinch-points. (independent.co.uk)
![Four-hour passport queues loom for British travellers as EU biometric system falters]()
With travel paperwork becoming ever more complex, one way to reduce stress is to sort out all other documentation well in advance. VisaHQ can help here: its UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) streamlines visa applications for more than 200 countries, provides real-time status tracking and offers expert advice, leaving you free to focus on navigating the new EES requirements.
Delays are already biting: winter-sun flights to Lanzarote and Tenerife reported secondary queues exceeding 90 minutes over the February half-term, forcing some airlines to hold departures and re-book missed connections. With 12 million UK nationals expected to fly to the EU between June and August, travel consultants estimate direct costs of missed flights, duty-of-care hotel bills and schedule disruption at £120 million – not counting lost labour hours.
Risk managers should brief travellers to arrive earlier, build extra transfer buffers into itineraries and monitor airport-specific guidance. Carriers are reviewing the feasibility of pop-up registration booths at UK departure airports, but this will require EU clearance. If Brussels refuses to grant a summer derogation, corporates may need to prioritise rail links such as Eurostar – which already operates EES kiosks at St Pancras – for time-critical trips.
The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder reports that only 35 % of third-country passengers are presently being processed through EES kiosks; by April the legal target rises to 100 %. The trade groups say chronic understaffing, patchy installation of self-service kiosks and a still-unreleased pre-registration app mean the infrastructure is nowhere near ready. Geneva – gateway to the Alps for tens of thousands of UK skiers – and Spain’s Canary Islands were highlighted as specific pinch-points. (independent.co.uk)
With travel paperwork becoming ever more complex, one way to reduce stress is to sort out all other documentation well in advance. VisaHQ can help here: its UK portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/) streamlines visa applications for more than 200 countries, provides real-time status tracking and offers expert advice, leaving you free to focus on navigating the new EES requirements.
Delays are already biting: winter-sun flights to Lanzarote and Tenerife reported secondary queues exceeding 90 minutes over the February half-term, forcing some airlines to hold departures and re-book missed connections. With 12 million UK nationals expected to fly to the EU between June and August, travel consultants estimate direct costs of missed flights, duty-of-care hotel bills and schedule disruption at £120 million – not counting lost labour hours.
Risk managers should brief travellers to arrive earlier, build extra transfer buffers into itineraries and monitor airport-specific guidance. Carriers are reviewing the feasibility of pop-up registration booths at UK departure airports, but this will require EU clearance. If Brussels refuses to grant a summer derogation, corporates may need to prioritise rail links such as Eurostar – which already operates EES kiosks at St Pancras – for time-critical trips.
