EES: Airports and airlines call for immediate review ahead of summer traffic

Major airlines and airports are urging a review of the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) before the peak summer season, warning that full rollout could trigger severe delays for travellers. 

ACI EUROPE (Airports Council International), A4E (Airlines for Europe) and IATA (International Air Transport Association) are warning of passengers facing delays of up to four hours after arrival at an EU border.

Current waiting times persistently exceed two hours at several airports, the groups say, despite EES not yet being fully phased in and peak travel season several months away. 

This includes at several Spanish airports, as well as reports of long delays at Paris’ two major airports (Orly and Roissy-Charles de Gaulle).

The groups point to issues including border understaffing, technological issues – particularly regarding automated border gates and self-registration kiosks – and a very limited uptake of the Frontex pre-registration app by EU countries. 

So far, French officials said they were last year undertaking ‘exploratory work’ with Frontex with a view to its possible adoption; Frontex also previously referred to trials planned in 2026.

There are calls for the EU to allow individual countries to partially or totally suspend EES requirements until the end of October 2026, with the bodies stating that it is unclear whether the rules currently in place will allow sufficient flexibility.

“There is a complete disconnect between the perception of the EU institutions that EES is working well, and the reality, which is that non‑EU travellers are experiencing massive delays and inconvenience,” said representatives of the groups. 

“This must come to an end immediately. We need to be realistic about what will happen during the peak summer months, when traffic at Europe’s airports doubles. The rollout of EES must be flexible to react to operational realities. 

“This is an absolute prerequisite for its success.” 

For its part, the European Commission recently said “no significant delays,” had been linked to the EES rollout. 

Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said the system has seen “very good results: 23 million entries and exits registered so far, all major airports connected, and also 12,000 refusals of entry.”

“Thanks to this progressive launch, what we see is that initial changes that are typical for any new systems that have to be introduced have been addressed. We also see that since the start of the system, this happened largely without major issues, even during the peak holiday period.”

The ‘progressive launch’, as opposed to initial plans to start for all relevant passengers at all Schengen borders immediately, required a complex legislative process last year to pass a new EU regulation, so it is unclear if it can be modified as the groups request. 

EES fully operational by April

The letter, sent to the EU commissioner responsible for migration, airports, and airlines, points towards the current long wait periods at some entry points. 

The EES has seen a phased rollout since being launched in October 2025, with the latest major update taking place on January 9. 

Since this date, 35% of all third-country nationals are required to be processed under the EES system upon arrival to the Schengen Area, needing to provide biometric details such as a facial photo and fingerprint scan (on subsequent visits, only one of these needs to be verified by border authorities).

This increase has already led to delays of several hours at a number of entry points, the groups say, however by March 10 the number of passengers entered into the system should increase to 50% in the next phase of the rollout. 

By April 2026 – prior to the peak summer travel season of – EES should be fully operational with all non-EU visitors to the Schengen area being logged on the system. 

This is despite a number of persistent issues, including with the ‘Parafe’ e-passport gates in France.

What current regulation allows

The commission recently told The Connexion that no new delays were being planned in the rollout compared to what the phased start regulation currently allows, which includes:

• Until full operation in April, EU countries may fully or partially suspend EES at certain border points in the event of technical problems or “exceptional circumstances” leading to excessive waiting times. Partial suspension means operating EES without collecting biometric data such as fingerprints or facial images.

• For three months after the phased start ends – until July – countries may apply partial suspension for up to six hours at a time at specific crossing points if queues build up. They must report the reasons to the EU.

• This flexibility may be extended for a further two months, until September, if fewer than 80% of EES passenger records during the phased start included full biometric data, which may be the case in France.