More news on this day
Travellers heading to Europe in the coming weeks are being urged to factor in extra time at the border, as temporary flexibility measures in the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) expire and airports prepare for the prospect of renewed queues at passport control.
Get the latest news straight to your inbox!
End of Flexibility Marks a New Phase for EES
The EU’s Entry/Exit System, a large-scale biometric database for non EU nationals entering and leaving the Schengen area, is now fully operational at all external border crossing points, replacing most manual passport stamping with digital records of each crossing. Publicly available information from EU institutions indicates that the progressive roll out that began in October 2025 has now given way to full implementation at air, land and sea borders across the Schengen zone.
During the first months of operation, member states were allowed to use a range of temporary flexibility tools, including the ability to suspend biometric capture or limit the share of travellers processed under EES during periods of acute congestion. According to recent European Parliament and Council documentation, this so called built in flexibility was designed to ease airports and border police into the new regime during the busy summer travel seasons of 2025 and 2026.
That transition period has now largely expired. Industry briefings and recent travel advisories report that border posts are moving towards full, mandatory registration of all eligible third country nationals under EES rules, with suspension options either ending entirely or being tightly restricted to clearly defined emergency situations. As the system enters this more rigid phase, concerns are growing that the buffers which helped keep queues under control earlier in the roll out may no longer be available at the busiest times.
Airport and Airline Groups Warn of Longer Queues
European airport and airline associations have spent much of the past year highlighting the operational impact of EES on border control, especially where infrastructure and staffing have struggled to match peak passenger numbers. In a joint statement released in February 2026, ACI Europe, Airlines for Europe and the International Air Transport Association warned that early stages of the roll out were already producing waiting times of up to two hours at some airport border checkpoints, even with flexibility measures still in place.
The same coalition cautioned that, without the leeway to scale back EES registrations during extreme peaks, queues at major hubs could potentially stretch to four hours or more on the busiest summer days. Their analysis focused particularly on first time EES users who must provide fingerprints and facial images in addition to having their travel documents scanned, a process that generally takes longer than traditional passport stamping and can slow down entire lines when many travellers are new to the system.
More recent presentations from aviation bodies continue to flag EES as a key operational pressure point for Europe’s external borders. Industry briefings ahead of the 2026 summer season repeatedly called for a review of how the system is applied at airports, highlighting the need for adequate staffing, working automated gates and off airport pre enrolment options to reduce the amount of time individual passengers spend at the border.
What the End of Flexibility Means for Travellers
For most visitors from outside the EU and Schengen area, the end of broad flexibility measures means that EES checks are now more likely to be applied consistently on every trip. Under the system, border officers register the traveller’s passport details, biometric data and the time and place of entry or exit. EU information materials explain that this record is then used to calculate and monitor stays within the standard 90 days in any 180 day period rule for short term visits.
First time users can expect their initial registration to take noticeably longer than a traditional passport stamp, particularly if it involves capturing four fingerprints and a live facial image. Subsequent journeys should be quicker, as the system reuses existing biometric profiles, but passengers will still need to factor in extra time compared with pre EES border checks, especially at peak travel times or at airports where infrastructure is still being upgraded to handle the new process.
Travel forums and consumer sites are beginning to carry new warnings advising long haul passengers heading into popular gateways such as Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Madrid to build additional buffer time into onward connections. While reported experiences vary from smooth, largely automated processing to longer, stop start queues, the common thread is uncertainty over how quickly border lines will move when every eligible non EU traveller must be processed through EES without the same scope for temporary shortcuts.
Member States Balance Security Aims With Capacity Limits
The EU frames EES as a core component of its modernised border management architecture, intended to enhance security by reliably tracking entries and exits, detecting overstays and combating identity fraud. European Commission communication on the system emphasises benefits such as more accurate travel history checks, better data sharing between border authorities and the eventual removal of routine passport stamping once EES is fully embedded in day to day operations.
However, national authorities remain responsible for providing the infrastructure and staffing needed to make the system work at individual border crossing points. Parliamentary briefings in several member states note that constraints on physical space for additional kiosks, limits on automated gate capacity and ongoing recruitment challenges in border police forces all affect how smoothly EES can be applied when planeloads of first time users arrive at once.
Earlier in the roll out, the ability to temporarily suspend parts of the system acted as a safety valve when those capacity limits were reached. With that option now sharply curtailed, airports and border agencies are under pressure to resolve bottlenecks through more permanent measures, from reconfiguring arrival halls to deploying more automated gates and refining passenger flow management. The success of those efforts is likely to determine whether the end of flexibility results in only marginally longer lines or widely reported disruption.
Looking Ahead to ETIAS and Future Peak Seasons
The tightening of EES procedures is taking place against the backdrop of the planned launch of the separate European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS, for visa exempt visitors. According to background information published by EU bodies, ETIAS is expected to become operational in late 2026, a little over a year after EES moved into full use. Travellers from countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom will need to obtain this electronic travel authorisation in addition to undergoing EES checks at the border.
Airline and airport groups argue that the combination of EES and ETIAS will make advance planning even more important for passengers and infrastructure providers alike. They have urged that lessons from the first full year of EES operations, including any surge in queues following the end of flexibility measures, be fed into the design of passenger information campaigns and border staffing plans before ETIAS adds another layer of requirements.
For now, travel industry guidance generally recommends that non EU visitors treat Europe’s external borders as an evolving environment. With flexibility mechanisms dialled back, the coming seasons will provide the clearest picture yet of how EES performs when every eligible traveller, at every crossing, is processed under the full rules. For those heading to Europe, that means staying informed, allowing generous connection times where possible and being prepared for a border experience that may not always match what they encountered on previous trips.
European Commission: Entry/Exit System overview
Council of the EU: How the Entry/Exit System works