With the EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) due to become mandatory at all Schengen external borders on 10 April 2026, UK travel association ABTA has reported highly variable experiences for British holiday-makers over the Easter weekend.
![ABTA Warns of ‘Mixed’ Experiences as EU Entry/Exit System Nears Full Roll-Out]()
Travellers looking for up-to-date advice on documentation requirements, biometric registrations and Schengen compliance can also draw on the resources of VisaHQ, which tracks policy roll-outs and offers application support for UK passport holders; more details are available at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/
While some journeys were smooth, others involved “longer wait times at border control, particularly during peak periods,” according to ABTA’s public-affairs manager Wilma Thaning. Airports and ferry ports that processed large volumes of UK travellers—Dover, Eurotunnel Folkestone, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga among them—saw queues lengthen when contingency lanes were not opened. Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said warned that if flexibility is not built into the summer schedule “major transport hubs should not be required to enforce the EES if it would cause considerable disruption”. The Port of Dover reported a 10 % year-on-year increase in cars over Easter but said its new EES coach facility handled 1,300 coaches “seamlessly”, suggesting that well-resourced sites can cope. Eurostar and Eurotunnel, however, indicated they will miss the 10 April deadline because French authorities have yet to install key kiosks, meaning UK passengers may face a patchwork of procedures in the same trip. For corporates the uncertainty complicates duty-of-care planning: travellers may clear one EU frontier in seconds and then face biometric capture at the next. Mobility teams should brief staff to expect fingerprint and facial image collection, allow extra transfer time and carry proof of lawful stay in the Schengen area in case of database mismatches. ABTA is pressing Brussels for a formal ‘peak-season suspension option’ that would let border authorities pause EES processing when delays exceed agreed thresholds. Whether the European Commission will agree before summer remains to be seen.
Travellers looking for up-to-date advice on documentation requirements, biometric registrations and Schengen compliance can also draw on the resources of VisaHQ, which tracks policy roll-outs and offers application support for UK passport holders; more details are available at https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/
While some journeys were smooth, others involved “longer wait times at border control, particularly during peak periods,” according to ABTA’s public-affairs manager Wilma Thaning. Airports and ferry ports that processed large volumes of UK travellers—Dover, Eurotunnel Folkestone, Palma de Mallorca and Malaga among them—saw queues lengthen when contingency lanes were not opened. Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said warned that if flexibility is not built into the summer schedule “major transport hubs should not be required to enforce the EES if it would cause considerable disruption”. The Port of Dover reported a 10 % year-on-year increase in cars over Easter but said its new EES coach facility handled 1,300 coaches “seamlessly”, suggesting that well-resourced sites can cope. Eurostar and Eurotunnel, however, indicated they will miss the 10 April deadline because French authorities have yet to install key kiosks, meaning UK passengers may face a patchwork of procedures in the same trip. For corporates the uncertainty complicates duty-of-care planning: travellers may clear one EU frontier in seconds and then face biometric capture at the next. Mobility teams should brief staff to expect fingerprint and facial image collection, allow extra transfer time and carry proof of lawful stay in the Schengen area in case of database mismatches. ABTA is pressing Brussels for a formal ‘peak-season suspension option’ that would let border authorities pause EES processing when delays exceed agreed thresholds. Whether the European Commission will agree before summer remains to be seen.
