Just two weeks after the EU switched on its biometric Entry/Exit System (EES), German airports are dealing with teething problems that are undermining business-trip predictability. An industry report published by Euro Weekly News on 24 April 2026 cites airport groups saying flights departed from Frankfurt, Berlin and Hamburg without dozens of non-EU passengers who were still trapped in EES lines. Average processing times for third-country nationals at Frankfurt have risen to 3.5 minutes — triple the pre-EES average. The Federal Police confirmed several IT outages at Cologne/Bonn and Hamburg last weekend that forced officers to revert to manual stamping. Airlines complain that a single kiosk failure can cascade into missed connections because the new system handles both entry and exit validations.
![Schengen Entry/Exit System Triggers Long Queues at Frankfurt and Berlin Airports]()
For corporate travel planners trying to stay ahead of these disruptions, VisaHQ can streamline pre-trip compliance by letting employees upload documents and receive Germany-specific border updates before they fly. Starting the process at https://www.visahq.com/germany/ helps non-EU passengers fulfil biometric requirements in advance and get real-time alerts on EES performance, reducing the risk of missed connections and meeting delays.
While EU officials insist the digital database will deter overstays and identity fraud, German trade groups warn that if the glitches persist into the summer peak the country risks reputational damage among corporate travellers. Fraport says it has ordered 120 additional self-service kiosks and will redeploy staff from security lanes to immigration during afternoon wave banks, but concedes that space in legacy terminals is limited. Mobility managers are already revising traveller guidelines: add at least 45 minutes to minimum connection times for non-EU employees and pre-load biometric data where airline apps allow advance registration. In the medium term the EES should speed up repeat trips once fingerprints and facial images are on file, yet the first fortnight shows that infrastructure and staffing need to scale quickly if Germany wants to remain the Schengen area’s most important intercontinental hub for business traffic.
For corporate travel planners trying to stay ahead of these disruptions, VisaHQ can streamline pre-trip compliance by letting employees upload documents and receive Germany-specific border updates before they fly. Starting the process at https://www.visahq.com/germany/ helps non-EU passengers fulfil biometric requirements in advance and get real-time alerts on EES performance, reducing the risk of missed connections and meeting delays.
While EU officials insist the digital database will deter overstays and identity fraud, German trade groups warn that if the glitches persist into the summer peak the country risks reputational damage among corporate travellers. Fraport says it has ordered 120 additional self-service kiosks and will redeploy staff from security lanes to immigration during afternoon wave banks, but concedes that space in legacy terminals is limited. Mobility managers are already revising traveller guidelines: add at least 45 minutes to minimum connection times for non-EU employees and pre-load biometric data where airline apps allow advance registration. In the medium term the EES should speed up repeat trips once fingerprints and facial images are on file, yet the first fortnight shows that infrastructure and staffing need to scale quickly if Germany wants to remain the Schengen area’s most important intercontinental hub for business traffic.
