EU airport delays linked to new border checks may last to 2028

Travellers heading to Europe this summer are being urged to prepare for prolonged queues at passport control, amid warnings that disruption linked to a new EU border system may not stabilise for up to two years.

New border system brings long lines to arrival halls

Reports from across the continent indicate that the rollout of the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) has triggered lengthy waits at non-EU passport control desks, particularly at busy hubs handling large numbers of long-haul arrivals. The system, designed to register the biometric data and movement history of non-EU nationals entering and leaving the Schengen area, has been described in public commentary as a major change in how borders are processed.

Early accounts from travellers describe hour-long queues becoming routine at peak times, with some airports facing waits of two hours or more as border officers capture fingerprints and facial images for first-time registrants. Once enrolled, future crossings are intended to be faster, but in the short term many airports appear to be grappling with the added complexity, limited numbers of kiosks and a mixed level of technical reliability.

Passenger forums and travel communities highlight particularly severe congestion at a series of popular entry points, including large hubs in Belgium, Italy and elsewhere, where surges of inbound flights can quickly overwhelm passport halls. In some cases, travellers report missing onward connections after spending several hours in line, despite arriving with what would previously have been considered a comfortable transfer window.

A recurring theme in these accounts is the combination of unfamiliar procedures and inconsistent communication. Many non-EU visitors report reaching border control unaware that they would need extra time for biometric registration, while airlines and tour operators have varied in how clearly they advise customers about the new requirements.

Record traffic collides with limited capacity

The timing of the new system coincides with air traffic volumes that are now at or above pre-pandemic levels across much of Europe. Eurocontrol’s most recent network reports show total flights in the European system slightly exceeding 2019 levels, with peak days already recording more than 30,000 movements. According to those figures, around three in ten flights depart late, and average delay minutes remain stubbornly elevated compared with a decade ago.

Growing demand is stretching capacity at both airports and in the skies. A recent analysis by the International Air Transport Association attributes the bulk of air traffic management delays in Europe to capacity bottlenecks and staffing constraints in the air navigation system. Since the mid-2010s, staffing-related delays have risen sharply even though overall traffic growth has been comparatively modest, suggesting that underlying structural issues are limiting how efficiently the network can handle peaks.

On the ground, the European Commission’s own material on airport slots acknowledges that many EU airports are operating near the limits of their runway and terminal capacity. In this environment, even small disruptions at border control can cascade quickly, leading to missed departure slots, aircraft waiting for late passengers and a knock-on effect that ripples through later departures and arrivals.

Network planning documents published this spring outline an ambition to drive air traffic flow management delays close to zero over the medium term by improving coordination between airports, air navigation providers and airlines. However, those same documents also emphasise that congestion is likely to remain a challenge during the transition period as new technology and procedures, including the border system, are embedded.

Why disruption could take years to settle

The suggestion that delays linked to the border changes may not stabilise for two years reflects several overlapping factors highlighted in public reports and policy papers. Chief among them is staffing. Across Europe, air traffic control centres and border agencies have faced hiring and training backlogs, with some states openly acknowledging shortages of qualified controllers and front-line officers.

Training pipelines for specialised aviation roles are lengthy, often taking several years from recruitment to full certification. Recent studies on air traffic controller working conditions and workforce planning underline that even accelerated hiring will not translate into additional operational capacity overnight. In the meantime, rostering remains tight and any spike in sickness, industrial action or unexpected traffic can have disproportionate effects on punctuality.

Technology integration is another key unknown. The EES relies on biometric kiosks, upgraded IT systems and secure data links shared across multiple agencies. A joint action plan issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Eurocontrol in March on wider navigation and interference risks underscores how interdependent modern aviation systems have become. When new tools are introduced, teething problems are common, and contingency procedures frequently fall back on slower, manual checks.

Policy debates around the Single European Sky and the modernisation of Europe’s fragmented airspace structure also indicate that wider efficiency gains will roll out gradually. Recent European Parliament briefings describe a liberalised yet congested market in which more passengers and more airlines are competing for finite runway, airspace and staffing resources. Until reforms in air traffic management and border processing are fully implemented, pressure on major hubs is widely expected to persist.

EU institutions move to reinforce passenger protections

Against this backdrop, EU policymakers are seeking to clarify and strengthen passenger rights. The Council of the European Union reached a position in 2025 on revised rules governing air passenger rights, including updated thresholds for compensation in cases of long delay. The proposed changes aim to make entitlements around care, rerouting and cash compensation more transparent, especially when disruption stems from complex causes such as airspace restrictions, capacity constraints or cascading reactionary delays.

More recently, guidance published by the European Commission on potential aviation fuel shortages reiterated that passengers affected by cancellations and significant delays retain core rights to reimbursement or rerouting, assistance at the airport and, in specific circumstances, financial compensation. The document stresses that only narrowly defined situations, such as genuine fuel unavailability, would relieve carriers of this obligation.

Consumer advocates argue that clear rules may encourage airlines and airports to adopt more conservative schedules and to invest in resilience measures, from extra ground handling staff to improved information sharing with border authorities. However, rights frameworks do not in themselves remove bottlenecks, and analysts caution that the next few peak travel seasons are likely to test both the robustness of the regulations and the capacity of enforcement bodies in EU member states.

Travellers are therefore being urged by industry observers and travel advisers to pay closer attention to their itineraries, particularly when planning connections that involve a change of terminal or re-clearing border controls. Longer layovers, earlier arrivals at departure airports and flexible travel insurance are increasingly being presented as prudent responses to a system operating near its limits.

What travellers can realistically expect this summer

For the 2026 peak season, network data and recent traveller experiences point to a patchy but generally challenging picture. Some airports with more space, higher staffing levels and extensive self-service facilities are managing to keep queues within pre-pandemic norms for much of the day. Others, particularly where traffic growth has outpaced infrastructure upgrades, have become synonymous with unpredictable waits at security and passport control.

The imbalance means that travellers on similar itineraries can have markedly different experiences depending on their time of arrival and the operational status of local systems on the day. Morning flights are still often reported as more reliable, as knock-on delays have yet to accumulate, but even early departures are not immune when staffing is tight or severe weather affects a key hub in the network.

Looking ahead to 2027 and 2028, planning documents from Eurocontrol and the European Commission anticipate incremental improvements as new air traffic management tools are rolled out and as border agencies gain experience with the Entry/Exit System. Yet few publicly available forecasts predict a swift return to the relatively smooth flows that characterised much of the 2010s, especially at peak holiday periods.

For now, the message emerging from data, policy papers and on-the-ground reports is that disruption at EU airports is likely to remain an unwelcome feature of many trips for at least the next two summers. While long queues and late departures are not universal, they are sufficiently common that travellers are being advised to build in extra time, anticipate congestion at border control and treat tightly timed connections as an avoidable risk rather than a calculated gamble.