The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) is causing significant delays and disruption at some European airports, after becoming fully operational across all 29 Schengen Area countries on 10APR.
According to a report from the BBC, more than 100 people missed an EasyJet flight from Milan to Manchester after EES border control delays forced the plane to depart without them. The airline described passport control queues as "unacceptable", while passengers said some people were vomitting and passing out in the heat due to three-hour queues in Milan.
Airports in Munich and Pisa have also seen major disruptions in recent weeks, with travellers telling The Independent newspaper they’ve faced "uncertainty" over whether to head to border control desks or join dedicated EES lines.
"Many people didn’t know where one queue started for that, or where one started to get through to the actual border control officer desks," one traveller said, describing it as a "nightmare" for airport staff.
Another passenger said they faced "over an hour's wait" at Pisa, just a week before the EU's deadline to make the system fully operational.
"I think they gave up with the biometrics and just stamped the passports. There were only two staff members for all the UK flights," they added, citing "Brexit" as another possible contributing factor to border queues.
As previously reported by Open Jaw, the EES has faced glitches and caused long queues since rollout across the Schengen area began on 12OCT, 2025. Countries were given until 10APR to fully implement the new system, using a mixture of manual checks and biometric checks until now.
Implementation woes have prompted the European Commission to offer member states the option to partially suspend EES checks for up to 90 days after the 10APR deadline, with a possible 60-day extension. The move is aimed at easing pressure on airports over the peak summer travel months.
