Airports Council International Europe, Airlines for Europe and IATA jointly warned on 27 February that the EU’s new biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) could trigger four-hour border queues this summer unless member states—including Switzerland as a Schengen associate—gain “operational flexibility” to suspend or scale back processing peaks.
Since partial rollout began in October 2025, only 35 percent of eligible crossings have adopted the kiosk-based fingerprint and facial-scan procedure. Even this limited deployment has pushed maximum wait times at some hubs from 30 minutes to two hours. Lisbon temporarily halted EES checks in December; Paris airports admit to recurring software glitches. Zurich and Geneva have similarly reported sporadic surges when multiple long-haul arrivals coincide.
In this fluid environment, corporate mobility teams may find value in external support: VisaHQ’s Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) consolidates the latest Schengen entry updates, offers automated reminder tools for passport validity and visa deadlines, and provides on-demand assistance that can reduce uncertainty for travellers grappling with the new EES procedures.
![Airports, airlines urge EU to pause biometric Entry/Exit System ahead of summer rush]()
Industry bodies fear that from 10 April, when full compliance becomes mandatory, chronic understaffing at passport control and unresolved IT bugs will strand travellers, inflate delay-compensation claims and overwhelm airport infrastructure. They propose allowing temporary suspensions during peak waves and funding extra border-guard rosters.
For Swiss corporate travellers the stakes are high: missed connections can wipe out savings from day-return flights, while longer queues complicate Schengen-day-count planning for third-country assignees. Mobility managers should brief employees to expect manual document checks if kiosks fail and build larger buffers into itineraries until system stability is proven.
The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) has not yet indicated whether it will seek a waiver, but insiders say contingency plans include redirecting some non-Schengen arrivals to Basel-Mulhouse or upping staffing at Zurich’s A-dock counters during the July-August peak.
Since partial rollout began in October 2025, only 35 percent of eligible crossings have adopted the kiosk-based fingerprint and facial-scan procedure. Even this limited deployment has pushed maximum wait times at some hubs from 30 minutes to two hours. Lisbon temporarily halted EES checks in December; Paris airports admit to recurring software glitches. Zurich and Geneva have similarly reported sporadic surges when multiple long-haul arrivals coincide.
In this fluid environment, corporate mobility teams may find value in external support: VisaHQ’s Switzerland portal (https://www.visahq.com/switzerland/) consolidates the latest Schengen entry updates, offers automated reminder tools for passport validity and visa deadlines, and provides on-demand assistance that can reduce uncertainty for travellers grappling with the new EES procedures.
Industry bodies fear that from 10 April, when full compliance becomes mandatory, chronic understaffing at passport control and unresolved IT bugs will strand travellers, inflate delay-compensation claims and overwhelm airport infrastructure. They propose allowing temporary suspensions during peak waves and funding extra border-guard rosters.
For Swiss corporate travellers the stakes are high: missed connections can wipe out savings from day-return flights, while longer queues complicate Schengen-day-count planning for third-country assignees. Mobility managers should brief employees to expect manual document checks if kiosks fail and build larger buffers into itineraries until system stability is proven.
The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) has not yet indicated whether it will seek a waiver, but insiders say contingency plans include redirecting some non-Schengen arrivals to Basel-Mulhouse or upping staffing at Zurich’s A-dock counters during the July-August peak.
