With Basel, Geneva and Zurich already testing the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), Switzerland’s smaller international airports – Lugano, Dübendorf and Bern-Belp – are now in the last preparatory stretch. According to the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS), the digital register for non-EU travellers will be activated at all three airports “by the end of March 2026,” replacing manual passport stamping with biometric scans.
![Schengen Entry/Exit System: Swiss regional airports gear up for March 2026 switchover]()
For travellers and mobility managers navigating these upcoming changes, VisaHQ can simplify the process. The service’s dedicated Switzerland page (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) consolidates the latest EES and ETIAS updates, offers Schengen day calculators and provides on-demand support for visa or travel authorisations, helping organisations maintain compliance.
EES automatically calculates the authorised length of stay for visa-exempt and short-stay visa holders and records every border crossing. For corporate travellers this will remove the guess-work around the Schengen 90/180-day rule and make over-stay violations immediately visible to authorities. The system also captures facial images and fingerprints on first entry, allowing Swiss police to identify undocumented persons more easily. FOCBS warns that the switchover period could produce longer queues, especially in leisure-heavy airports such as Lugano, and advises airlines to alert passengers to arrive earlier. Companies sending technicians and project staff to Switzerland should factor in potential delays during the soft-launch phase and ensure travellers’ passports have at least two blank pages for the interim stamp used until 9 April 2026, when paper stamping ceases altogether. Longer term, the digital trail created by EES will feed ETIAS, the EU’s travel-authorisation system expected to start in 2026/27, meaning overstays in Switzerland could automatically block a traveller’s access to other Schengen states. Mobility teams should therefore review internal dashboards that track days spent in the Schengen area and educate travellers on the new biometric procedure.
For travellers and mobility managers navigating these upcoming changes, VisaHQ can simplify the process. The service’s dedicated Switzerland page (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) consolidates the latest EES and ETIAS updates, offers Schengen day calculators and provides on-demand support for visa or travel authorisations, helping organisations maintain compliance.
EES automatically calculates the authorised length of stay for visa-exempt and short-stay visa holders and records every border crossing. For corporate travellers this will remove the guess-work around the Schengen 90/180-day rule and make over-stay violations immediately visible to authorities. The system also captures facial images and fingerprints on first entry, allowing Swiss police to identify undocumented persons more easily. FOCBS warns that the switchover period could produce longer queues, especially in leisure-heavy airports such as Lugano, and advises airlines to alert passengers to arrive earlier. Companies sending technicians and project staff to Switzerland should factor in potential delays during the soft-launch phase and ensure travellers’ passports have at least two blank pages for the interim stamp used until 9 April 2026, when paper stamping ceases altogether. Longer term, the digital trail created by EES will feed ETIAS, the EU’s travel-authorisation system expected to start in 2026/27, meaning overstays in Switzerland could automatically block a traveller’s access to other Schengen states. Mobility teams should therefore review internal dashboards that track days spent in the Schengen area and educate travellers on the new biometric procedure.
