IATA warns Europe’s new EES checks risk summer airport chaos

Air passengers heading to Europe this summer are being urged to prepare for significantly longer waits at border control, as the airline industry warns that the European Union’s new biometric Entry/Exit System could push airport queues to breaking point during the peak holiday season.

IATA flags risk of six hour queues at Europe’s borders

The International Air Transport Association is cautioning that queues at some European border checkpoints could stretch to several hours if no additional measures are taken before the main summer holiday period. Recent public comments from the association’s European leadership describe the Entry/Exit System, or EES, as a growing operational concern, with the potential for “serious disruptions” to passenger flows if pressure on passport control intensifies over July and August.

Reports summarising IATA’s position indicate that the organisation is urging governments to use existing flexibility within the rules to ease or temporarily scale back checks when queues start to exceed manageable levels. The aim, according to these summaries, is to avoid situations where travellers wait several hours to clear border control or miss onward connections as a result of processing bottlenecks triggered by the new system.

Industry coverage of IATA’s latest warnings suggests that the group is particularly worried about large hub airports handling heavy volumes of long haul traffic from outside the Schengen Area. These gateways are now seeing a high proportion of passengers pass through the new biometric registration process, which involves facial image and fingerprint capture in addition to standard passport checks.

EES rollout already lengthening processing times

The Entry/Exit System, which began phased operations in October 2025 and became fully operational at Schengen external borders on 10 April 2026, is designed to replace manual passport stamping with a centralised digital database for non EU nationals entering and leaving the zone. Official information states that it records biometric and biographic data for short stay visitors, with the goal of tightening border security and better tracking overstays.

However, assessments published by airport groups and specialist travel media show that the transition has come with a sharp increase in processing times. Airport Council International Europe has reported that the progressive introduction of EES has extended average border control processing by up to around 70 percent at some locations, with peak waiting times rising to two or three hours during the earlier phases of the rollout.

Since full activation in April 2026, several travel reports describe queues of up to four hours at certain airports on busy days, particularly where staffing, equipment failures or local layout issues have slowed down the enrolment of first time EES users. In some cases, airlines have cited long border queues as a factor behind passengers missing flights, and have started advising travellers to arrive considerably earlier than usual for departures from affected airports.

Joint industry calls for urgent review and flexibility

Concerns over summer disruption are not limited to IATA. In a joint communication earlier this year, airports and airlines represented by ACI Europe, Airlines for Europe and IATA warned that the current configuration of the system is already causing “significant passenger delays” at a number of border crossing points. The organisations argued that without rapid changes, widespread disruption during the peak season is a “real prospect.”

Publicly available summaries of that joint position indicate that the groups pointed to persistent border waits of up to two hours at some airports even before the system reached full coverage. They also highlighted what they describe as a disconnect between political assurances that the system is working well and the experience of non EU travellers confronted with crowded waiting areas and lengthy queues.

The aviation and airport associations have been urging the European Commission and national governments to clarify how and when member states can temporarily scale back or suspend EES checks during peak traffic periods. Industry media report that the sector is seeking firm commitments that border authorities will be allowed to use these emergency flexibilities throughout the 2026 summer season if queues become unmanageable.

Travellers advised to arrive earlier and plan connections carefully

For passengers, the most immediate impact of the EES transition is the need to allow more time for border formalities when entering or leaving the Schengen Area from non Schengen countries. Travel outlets are increasingly advising visitors from the United States, the United Kingdom and other visa exempt destinations to arrive at airports earlier than they might have done in previous years, especially if they are travelling at weekends or during school holiday peaks.

Some airlines and travel companies have begun recommending that passengers flying from busy European gateways build in at least three hours between landing from a non Schengen flight and boarding a connecting service, in case border queues are longer than expected. Travel industry coverage notes that early adopters of this advice may have a smoother experience, while those with tight connections risk missing flights if they underestimate current processing times.

Reports also stress that EES applies only at external Schengen borders, meaning that once a non EU traveller has been processed at their first point of entry into the zone, subsequent flights within Schengen usually do not involve repeated EES checks. Nevertheless, the first airport of arrival can still become a serious bottleneck, particularly when several long haul flights land in quick succession and a high proportion of passengers require full biometric enrolment.

Pressure grows for technical fixes before peak summer

With the main holiday season approaching, attention is increasingly turning to whether technical and operational changes can be put in place quickly enough to alleviate the worst congestion risks. Aviation analysts point to several practical steps, including increasing the number of staffed border control desks, expanding the availability of functional biometric kiosks, and improving passenger information at airports where the new system has caused confusion.

There is also growing focus on how border agencies and airport operators can better coordinate to anticipate peak arrival waves linked to specific long haul flights and cruise arrivals. Some performance review material from European air traffic and airport monitoring bodies has already flagged EES related queues as a contributor to wider departure delays, as aircraft and crew wait for passengers stranded in long immigration lines.

For now, the message to travellers is clear. Until the new system beds in and operational fixes take hold, Europe’s automated border regime is likely to remain a source of uncertainty and potential delay. Those planning trips into or out of the Schengen Area this summer are being encouraged by travel advisers and industry reports to factor in extra time at the airport, remain alert to airline guidance, and treat nominal minimum connection times as a bare baseline rather than a comfortable standard.