‘Urgent review’ call as fears grow ahead of EES Easter rollout

Industry leaders are increasingly concerned that full implementation of the EU’s biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) over Easter could cause widespread delays.

Iata joined European airports association ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe, which represents the major carriers, to demand “an immediate review” of the system’s rollout last week, saying the phased introduction since October “continues to cause significant delays”.

The aviation groups warned of queues of “four hours or more” in July and August in a letter to the EU Commissioner for Internal Affairs, noting “persistent excessive waiting times” already when only 35% of ‘third-country nationals’ must be registered biometrically.

More: Abta urges EES contingency plans amid ‘challenges’ to introduction

They blamed “unresolved technology issues, chronic understaffing” and “very limited” uptake of a pre-registration app, and urged the EC to allow member states to suspend the system until the end of October. The associations warned of “a complete disconnect between the perception of EU institutions that EES is working well and the reality [of] non-EU travellers experiencing massive delays”. 

There were reports last week that the EC had postponed the rollout completion date.

However, an EC spokesperson insisted there would be “no further extensions to implementation”, while noting: “Member states may partially suspend EES operations where necessary for 90 days, with a possible 60-day extension to cover the summer peak.”

The 90-day period will expire from July 8, while a 60-day extension would carry through to September 6.

Abta has called on the EC “to encourage” more states to suspend the system when queues build up.

All 29 Schengen Area countries – meaning the EU plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland but excluding Ireland and Cyprus – must have the system fully operating by the week of Easter Monday.

ACI Europe reported a 70% increase in processing times at airports in December when the threshold for registering non-EU travellers’ photos and fingerprints stood at just 10%. It reported “regular outages”, “persistent configuration problems”, “the unavailability of automated gates [and] pre-registration” and inadequate staffing, and called for an “urgent review”.

Lisbon Airport suspended the system for up to three weeks over Christmas, while in France e-gates still cannot process UK passports.

The Foreign Office this week suggested that EES may take each passenger a “few minutes extra” to complete and advised them to "be prepared to wait longer than usual” at the border.

Advice was updated on Wednesday for travel to Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) said: “EES checks are being introduced in a phased way across external borders, with full operation expected from 10 April 2026."