New Schengen Biometric Checks Threaten Four-Hour Airport Queues Across Europe This Summer

Airlines and airports across Europe are sounding the alarm over the risk of serious queues and flight disruption this summer as the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) beds in at border checkpoints. The new biometric scheme, which went live at many external Schengen borders in October 2025 and is due to be fully operational by April 10, 2026, is already stretching passport control capacity and raising fears of scenes of four hour lines just as peak holiday traffic arrives.

A New Border Regime Meets Peak Demand

EES is the European Union’s flagship digital border management project, designed to replace manual passport stamping for non EU nationals with an automated register of entries and exits. The system captures passport data along with a facial image and, in many cases, fingerprints, storing them in a central database each time a traveller crosses an external Schengen frontier.

After multiple delays, the system began operation on October 12, 2025, at selected airports, seaports and land crossings in 29 participating countries. Under a six month transition period, not every crossing point or eligible traveller had to be processed from day one, allowing border authorities to introduce the new technology in stages while keeping traditional passport stamps in parallel.

That grace period is now drawing to a close. By April 10, 2026, EES is scheduled to be fully deployed at all external border points for all non EU short stay visitors. For European aviation, that deadline comes uncomfortably close to the summer peak, when terminals and airspace are already operating near capacity. Industry bodies warn that adding several extra minutes to each first time border inspection risks tipping a finely balanced system into chaos.

Airports and Airlines Warn of Four Hour Queues

In recent weeks the industry’s concern has hardened into a formal warning. In a joint message to the European Commission, Airports Council International Europe, Airlines for Europe and the International Air Transport Association reported that waiting times at some airport border controls have already ballooned as a result of the initial EES rollout.

According to their data, at locations where a partial share of non EU passengers must be processed through the new system, border control times have increased by up to 70 percent at peaks, with queues of up to two hours now a regular occurrence. The groups say this is happening even though, in the current phase, only around one third of eligible third country travellers are being registered.

The fear is that when the registration requirement ramps up to cover all non EU passengers during the busiest weeks of July and August, those delays could easily double. The trade bodies have warned of potential lines extending to four hours or more, with knock on effects for flight punctuality, missed connections, and overcrowding in arrival halls that could raise safety concerns as well as passenger frustration.

Early Operational Problems at Key Hubs

While EES is intended to streamline border checks in the long term, its initial months at major gateways have exposed practical challenges. At a number of airports in Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and other popular holiday destinations, travellers have reported long waits as they navigate new procedures for the first time.

Under the system, many passengers must first visit a self service kiosk to scan their passport, capture a live facial image and, where required, provide fingerprints. They then proceed to an automated or staffed passport control point where the data is verified. Any mismatch, technical error or unfamiliarity with the process can force a manual intervention by a border officer, slowing every subsequent passenger in the line.

Airport operators say that the combination of recurring technical glitches, kiosks going offline, and persistent staffing shortages at police controlled border booths has resulted in unpredictable peaks in processing times. At some hubs, passengers have missed onward flights after queuing for up to three hours to clear arrival checks. Low cost carriers flying to and from non Schengen destinations have issued their own warnings, urging customers to arrive even earlier than usual to avoid being caught out.

The Structural Weak Points Behind the Delays

Industry leaders argue that the current problems are not merely teething troubles. Their joint analysis points to three structural weak points that are likely to intensify pressure as EES becomes mandatory across the board.

The first is chronic understaffing at border control. Even before EES, many police and immigration services were operating with lean rosters, particularly at smaller regional airports that nonetheless handle heavy seasonal traffic from the United Kingdom, Ireland and other non Schengen markets. Adding extra steps to each check without a corresponding increase in trained officers inevitably stretches the system.

The second issue is technological. Several airports have reported regular outages in the EES platform, difficulty integrating new kiosks and gates with existing infrastructure, and configuration problems that reduce the effectiveness of automation. Where self service facilities are unavailable or underperforming, more of the process falls back onto manual checks, eroding the speed benefits that EES is meant to deliver.

Third, the industry laments the very limited uptake of pre registration tools that could front load some of the data collection. A mobile app backed by the European border agency was intended to allow travellers to submit key information and biometric templates before arrival. In practice, few member states have deployed it at scale, and there is still no widely recognised digital preparation channel that airports can promote to customers.

Regulators Under Pressure to Add Flexibility

Against this backdrop, airports and airlines are lobbying Brussels for more flexibility in how and when EES obligations ramp up. Under the current legal framework, the progressive deployment that began in October 2025 was designed to phase out by early summer 2026, with only restricted scope for countries to suspend or limit registrations at specific crossing points once the system is formally in full operation.

Industry bodies are urging the European Commission to make it explicit that member states can partially or fully pause EES registrations at their borders through to the end of October 2026 if operational conditions demand it. They argue that without such a clear signal, national authorities may feel constrained in using the limited derogations already present in the rules, leading to a rigid implementation just when flexibility is most needed.

For their part, EU institutions maintain that EES is essential to modernising border management, tackling overstays and identity fraud, and ultimately making crossings smoother for frequent travellers. Officials point to the long term aim of shifting much of the workload to automated gates and digital checks, reducing the reliance on manual passport stamping and repetitive questioning.

The tension lies between that long term vision and the short term reality on the airport floor. Airlines argue that passengers remember the experience in front of them, not the promised benefits in future years, and that a summer of bottlenecks would damage confidence in European travel just as the sector is consolidating its recovery from the pandemic.

Airports Scramble to Adapt Facilities

On the ground, airport operators are racing to reconfigure halls and processes to cope with the new requirements. Many terminals have added banks of biometric kiosks, re striping queues to separate EES eligible travellers from EU and Schengen nationals, and working with border authorities to model new staffing patterns for peak waves of arrivals.

Major hubs in Spain, France, Germany, Italy and Portugal have invested tens of millions of euros in hardware and software to meet the deadlines, often under tight construction timelines while terminals remain in full use. Smaller airports with limited space face a particular challenge: finding room for kiosks, queues and staff outposts in buildings never designed for mass biometric processing.

To reduce congestion, some airports are experimenting with extended opening of border control lines during off peak times, encouraging passengers arriving early in the day to enrol in EES before evening rushes. Others are coordinating more closely with airlines on flight scheduling, trying to avoid multiple large leisure services arriving within the same narrow window if border staffing cannot keep pace.

What Travellers Can Expect This Summer

For non EU travellers planning a European trip in summer 2026, the practical implications of EES will vary depending on their route, nationality and travel history. Passengers entering the Schengen area for the first time since October 12, 2025, are likely to face the longest checks, as they must complete the full biometric registration process.

That means preparing to spend several minutes at a kiosk capturing a clear facial image, possibly providing fingerprints, and confirming personal data, followed by another interaction at a staffed or automated passport booth. Subsequent trips should move more quickly, with the system able to verify travellers against stored records.

However, at busy holiday times, even a modest increase in the average processing time per passenger can translate into long physical queues if enough desks are not open. Families with young children, elderly travellers and those making tight connections could feel the impact most acutely. Airlines are already adjusting their guidance, urging customers on flights to and from Schengen destinations to arrive earlier at departure airports and to proceed promptly to border controls on arrival.

Travellers connecting through European hubs from non Schengen points to other non Schengen destinations may also experience extra checks, as EES applies at the moment of crossing the external border, not solely at final destination. This is particularly relevant at large hubs where non EU to non EU transfers still involve passing through Schengen territory.

Balancing Security Objectives with a Seamless Journey

The rollout of EES encapsulates a broader dilemma for European travel: how to deliver robust security and migration controls without undermining the continent’s appeal as a convenient and welcoming destination. For EU policymakers, the system is a cornerstone of a more data driven border regime that promises better oversight of who enters and exits, and reduced reliance on manual stamps that can be lost or falsified.

For airports and airlines, the same system is judged through the lens of operational resilience and customer experience. They do not dispute the objectives, but warn that insufficient preparation, inflexible rules and under resourced border services could make the difference between a manageable transition and a public relations crisis just as millions of holidaymakers arrive.

The coming months will be critical. If regulators respond to industry calls for greater flexibility in how strictly EES is applied during the busiest weeks, and if member states move quickly to bolster border staffing and fix technical shortcomings, the summer peak could pass with limited disruption. If not, travellers may find that the biggest bottleneck of their trip is not in the skies but in front of a new biometric kiosk at the Schengen border.