Long lines at passport control are nothing new for international travelers, but since the European Union began rolling out its new Entry/Exit System in October 2025, some non-EU passengers are finding the waits so long that they are missing flights and connections. With the system set to be in place across all Schengen borders by April 10, 2026, questions are mounting over who pays when a biometric bottleneck derails a trip and whether travel insurance will step in to soften the financial blow.

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What the EU’s new Entry/Exit System is changing at the border

The Entry/Exit System, or EES, replaces manual passport stamping with biometric checks for non-EU travelers entering and leaving the Schengen area. On a first visit after October 2025, most visitors from countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia have their passport scanned, fingerprints taken and a photo captured at a kiosk or by a border officer. The data is then stored for several years to track entries and exits and enforce the 90-days-in-180 rule for short stays.

In theory, once travelers are enrolled, future crossings should be faster because the system simply verifies their identity and travel history against the stored record. EU officials and some transport operators argue that the technology will ultimately streamline flows and improve security, noting that it should remove the need for repeated stamping and manual data entry.

In practice, the early weeks of the rollout have highlighted a steep learning curve. Kiosks are new to many travelers, staff are still adapting procedures and infrastructure is uneven from airport to airport. Some member states have chosen a gradual deployment to avoid severe congestion, while others have moved more quickly, particularly at smaller airports and land crossings.

The system is being phased in at major air hubs, seaports and land borders through to spring 2026. That means millions of non-EU passengers will encounter the new process for the first time over the peak Christmas, winter sports and Easter travel periods, when European airports traditionally operate near capacity.

Where delays are biting and how travelers are missing flights

The lengthiest queues reported so far are at busy hubs that process large volumes of non-EU arrivals around the same time. When several long-haul flights land within a short window, the combination of first-time EES registrations, language issues and technical hiccups can quickly overwhelm the available kiosks and officers, leading to waits measured in hours rather than minutes.

Travelers arriving from the UK and other non-Schengen departure points have described joining lines that snake through arrival halls as ground staff struggle to triage who needs full biometric enrolment and who is already in the system. At some airports, officials have temporarily relaxed checks or opened additional manual counters when lines have grown too long, but such measures are inconsistent and depend on local capacity.

The result, according to accounts gathered by European media and consumer groups, is that a minority of passengers are missing onward connections that require a second security check or an internal Schengen flight. Even when airlines rebook them free of charge, travelers can face overnight stays, missed tours or lost hotel nights at their own expense.

Land crossings present their own challenges. Terminals such as London St Pancras for Eurostar and the Port of Dover have long warned that the need to capture biometrics from car passengers and train travelers on the UK side will slow departures to France. Authorities have invested in new kiosks and extra staff, but have also cautioned that, at least initially, queues could back up into terminal buildings and onto surrounding roads.

How EU passenger rights apply when EES causes a missed flight

When biometric border processing makes a traveler miss a flight, the first question is whether the airline owes any assistance or compensation. Within the European Union, passenger rights are largely governed by Regulation EC 261/2004, which sets out entitlements to care and, in some circumstances, cash compensation for delays, cancellations and denied boarding.

If a passenger is traveling on a single through ticket and misses a connection within the EU because they were stuck at border control, most airlines will typically rebook them on the next available flight to their final destination. They may also have to provide meals, refreshments, hotel accommodation and local transport if a long wait or overnight stay is required, regardless of the cause of the delay, so long as the journey falls under the scope of EU rules.

Cash compensation, however, is a different question. Airlines are generally not liable for extraordinary circumstances outside their control, a category that often includes air traffic control strikes, severe weather and major security events. Many carriers argue that state-run border formalities, including the rollout of the EES, fall into this basket. That means travelers might receive care and rebooking but not a cash payout for lost time.

Passengers who have arranged their trip as a self-connection on separate tickets are in a weaker position. If they booked one flight to a European hub and another onward flight separately, the second airline has no legal duty to wait or to rebook them if they turn up late to check-in because of passport control delays. In these cases, all additional costs typically fall on the traveler, which is where travel insurance becomes more critical.

Why many travel insurance policies exclude immigration delays

Travel insurance often advertises cover for missed connections, trip delay and trip interruption, but the fine print matters. Many standard policies define a covered missed connection as one caused by issues such as airline delays, mechanical failures, traffic accidents en route to the airport or severe weather that grounds flights. Queues at immigration or security are often explicitly excluded, treated as an inherent risk of travel rather than an unforeseen event.

Insurance specialists and comparison platforms note that EES-linked disruption falls into a grey area. The system is no longer an unexpected change: it is now part of the established entry process for the Schengen area. As a result, some underwriters argue that delays arising from its implementation are predictable and therefore excluded under clauses that remove coverage for known events or operational changes that were widely publicized before the trip was booked.

Industry experts interviewed by European outlets have warned that, unless a policy specifically lists security or immigration delays as covered risks, travelers should not assume their insurer will reimburse missed connection costs caused by long EES queues. Even comprehensive plans with generous missed-connection limits may deny claims tied to border bottlenecks on the grounds that these are outside the scope of the benefit.

Another complication is timing. Some insurers distinguish between short, routine congestion and exceptional disruption. A brief hold-up at biometric kiosks is unlikely to qualify, but a systemic breakdown or several-hour shutdown of border control due to a technical failure might be treated differently. In practice, travelers would need strong documentation from airlines and border authorities to support such a claim.

What coverage travelers can realistically expect

Despite the exclusions, there are scenarios where travel insurance can still help when EES delays derail a journey. If the missed connection or long delay is ultimately traced back to an airline issue, such as a late inbound flight, crew shortages or technical problems, then the missed-connection or trip-delay benefit in many policies can apply, even if the immediate trigger was time lost at border control.

Comprehensive plans may also cover additional accommodation, meals and rebooking costs if a missed connection leads to an overnight stay or forces a traveler to buy a new ticket to rejoin a tour, provided the underlying cause falls within covered reasons. Some policies include a general trip-disruption benefit that offers a fixed daily allowance once a threshold number of hours has been exceeded, regardless of the specific cause, although these are less common.

Travelers who purchased flexible or refundable tickets, or who booked as part of a package with a tour operator, may also have better options. Some European carriers and rail operators have indicated they will take a lenient approach during the EES bedding-in period, offering rebooking and waiving change fees when passengers can show they were delayed by border formalities. These are goodwill measures rather than guaranteed rights, however, and vary between companies.

Specialist policies aimed at high-frequency travelers or business customers occasionally contain broader disruption coverage that can extend to long waits at immigration, especially if they result from a documented system failure or security incident. Premium credit card travel protections may also provide secondary coverage for some out-of-pocket costs when other options are exhausted.

With the system still new and unevenly implemented, experts recommend that travelers focus on prevention rather than relying on after-the-fact claims. One of the strongest pieces of advice emerging from airlines, travel agents and consumer advocates is to build in extra time. Where in the past a 60 to 90 minute connection within Europe might have been considered adequate, many advisers now suggest aiming for layovers of at least three hours when a border crossing is involved.

Passengers are also being encouraged to complete any pre-registration steps offered by national authorities or border agencies, including using official apps where available to speed up processing on arrival. Keeping travel documents together, understanding whether you are entering the Schengen zone or merely connecting to a non-Schengen destination, and following airport signage carefully can shave crucial minutes off the process.

From an insurance perspective, travelers are urged to read policy wordings closely before purchase and to ask insurers or brokers directly whether delays at immigration or security are ever covered and under what circumstances. If a plan does not provide meaningful protection for missed connections, it may still be valuable for medical emergencies and lost baggage, but buyers should adjust their expectations for trip-disruption payouts.

For those in particularly risk-averse categories, such as cruise passengers with tight embarkation windows or travelers heading to important events, a combination of strategies may make sense: arrive a day early in Europe, stay overnight near the port or departure point, and choose changeable fares that can be rebooked with minimal penalty if the unexpected happens at the border.

How EES interacts with future ETIAS requirements and evolving rules

The Entry/Exit System is only one part of a broader overhaul of how the EU manages its external borders. From late 2026, many non-EU nationals who currently visit the Schengen zone visa-free will also need to obtain a travel authorization under the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS. Travelers will apply online, pay a modest fee and receive an approval that is then checked by airlines and border officials before boarding and at arrival.

While ETIAS is primarily a pre-screening tool aimed at security and migration risks, it adds another layer of complexity to trip planning. Passengers who fail to secure authorization in time may be denied boarding at their departure airport. In such cases, responsibility and coverage questions are likely to be even more complex, with airlines, travelers and insurers all scrutinizing paperwork to determine where fault lies.

At the same time, EU member states are debating updates to passenger compensation rules that could alter when and how much airlines must pay for delays and missed connections. Proposals under discussion would lengthen the delay thresholds required for cash compensation on many routes while increasing payouts on some short-haul journeys and lowering them on the longest flights.

For travelers, the net effect is an environment where rights and obligations are shifting just as new technological systems at the border come online. Until the dust settles, the safest strategy is to assume that biometric and authorization checks will take longer than advertised and that insurance will only help at the margins rather than fully insulating them from the consequences of a missed flight.

FAQ

Q1: If I miss my EU connection because of EES queues, will my airline always rebook me for free?
In many cases, if your entire journey is on a single through ticket and you miss a connection due to time spent at border control, airlines will put you on the next available flight and may provide meals or accommodation as needed. However, policies vary between carriers, and cash compensation is unlikely if the delay stems from state-run border checks regarded as outside the airline’s control.

Q2: Does standard travel insurance cover delays caused specifically by immigration or security checks?
Most mainstream travel insurance policies exclude routine delays at immigration or security from missed-connection and trip-delay benefits. Unless the wording explicitly lists such delays as covered events, insurers are likely to treat them as a normal risk of travel rather than a reimbursable disruption.

Q3: Can I buy a special policy that includes EES-related disruption?
A small number of premium or specialist policies may offer broader disruption coverage that could apply if EES delays are tied to a documented system failure or security event. Travelers should ask insurers directly whether immigration-related delays are covered and request clear examples in writing before relying on such protection.

Q4: What happens if I booked my flights on separate tickets and miss the second leg because of EES?
If you arranged your journey as a self-connection with separate tickets, the second airline has no contractual duty to assist you if you arrive late. You will usually have to buy a new ticket at prevailing prices and cover all related expenses yourself unless your insurance policy happens to include coverage for such scenarios.

Q5: How much extra time should I allow at EU airports while EES is rolling out?
Travel industry bodies and some national authorities suggest allowing at least three to four hours for connections that involve entering the Schengen zone during the initial rollout period. For first-time EES registrations at busy hubs or during peak seasons, building in an even longer buffer may reduce the risk of missing onward flights.

Q6: Will ETIAS, when it launches, also cause delays that might not be covered by insurance?
ETIAS will be an online pre-travel authorization, so most of the process happens before you reach the airport. Travelers who apply late or make mistakes could face boarding denials, which many insurers may treat as avoidable and therefore not covered. As with EES, advance preparation will likely be more effective than relying on claims afterwards.

Q7: Are children subject to the same EES procedures as adults?
Children still need to be processed under EES, but younger travelers are typically spared fingerprint collection in favor of a photograph. Families should nonetheless plan for the entire group to go through biometric registration together, which can lengthen overall processing time on a first visit.

Q8: Does EES apply every time I enter Europe, or only on my first trip?
EES requires a full biometric enrolment the first time you enter the Schengen area after the system goes live, with your data stored for a period of years as long as you respect stay limits. On subsequent trips within that period, checks should be quicker, but you will still pass through dedicated lanes so your identity and travel history can be verified.

Q9: If EES systems fail completely and the border closes temporarily, would that change my insurance rights?
A total system failure that halts processing for hours could be treated differently from ordinary congestion. Some insurers might accept claims if the disruption is documented as an exceptional event, but decisions will depend on individual policy language and the evidence you can provide from airlines or border authorities.

Q10: What practical steps should I take now if I am planning travel to Europe in 2026?
Travelers should book longer layovers for any connections involving entry into the Schengen zone, choose flexible fares where possible, check airline and official guidance before departure, and read their insurance policy carefully to understand what trip-disruption coverage it truly offers. Keeping receipts, boarding passes and any written confirmation of delays will also be important if they later need to pursue a claim.