NEWS FLASH
Airports Council International Europe (ACI), the only worldwide professional association of airport operators representing over 600 airports on the continent, has called upon the European Commission and Schengen Member States to urgently address the mounting operational issues related to the ongoing implementation of the Schengen Entry‑Exit System (EES), which started on October 12. “The progressive scaling‑up of the registration and capture of biometric data from third country nationals entering the Schengen area has resulted in border control processing times at airports increasing by up to 70%, with waiting times of up to three hours at peak traffic periods. This is severely impacting the passenger experience - with airports in France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Portugal and Spain especially impacted”, ACI Europe said. This is despite the current threshold for registering third country nationals set at only 10%. It is due to increase to 35% as of January 9, 2026.
Regular outages and ongoing technical and staffing shortcomings in the EES are undermining the predictability, resilience and efficiency of border operations. Persistent configuration issues, limited availability of self-service kiosks and ABC gates, the absence of a functional pre-registration app and chronic border guard shortages at airports continue to constrain effective implementation.
Can someone explain to me how this even works??? I have entered 4 different EU countries and had to scan my fingerprints and get my photo taken every single time. I thought it would only be done once at your first entry into EU.
ReplyDeleteI have entered only one state four times (USA) and had to scan finger prints and take photo four times. Not to mention waiting for hours in queue....
DeleteNo, fingerprints and photos will not be taken every time. It is happening now as the process is still being tried and tested but from April it will not be taken anymore if you have already entered (unless the timeline is moved). Officials will match you against your stored biometric record. Data will be stored for 3 years.
DeleteAnd how it is matched?! By officer visually, odoka as we say?!
DeleteBiometric data storing and matching has sence only if it's done every time.
Real question is why it takes so long as engaged that do exactly the same, matching passport and picture data (no fingerprints, but that's not a big deal) and in 30 seconds you are in/ out.
Well, if they are testing the system in production then the congestions will only increase over time. More and more things are planned and done by totally incompetent people with no idea how some change will work in real life. Then everyone is surprised. In the meantime illegal migrations are happening over land as usual. The EES is supposed to replace passport stamps and produce the accurate count of days spent in EU.
DeleteI understood it will be similar as for e-gates (scanning the face) but obviously I was wrong
Delete^ you can access the EES website and you will see this will only be done once every 3 years.
DeleteThe pic is from Lisbon :D probably the worst airport for airport queues in Europe.
ReplyDeleteThere is a reason it is recommended that if flying to LIS from non Schengen country you first fly into some other EU state so you can avoid passport control when entering Lisbon.
DeleteIt is crazy, I almost missed flight back to Belgrade and it was before this EES thing. I specifically don't like when passport control is at the end of your road to the gate, just let me pass the procedures first... Don't know to which extent is this responsibility of airport operator but I wasn't surprised to learn that it is operated by Vinci...
DeleteI flew to LIS from EU, but still...probably one of the worst airports I flew to/from, and I had more than 30 trips last year.
DeleteQueues in BEG solved, now reintroducing queues on the other side.
ReplyDeleteFriends traveled to Lisbon 3 days ago... they waited in passport queue on arrival for more than 5 hours. Many people fainted and become anxious and unwell. And it seems to be a regular thing in Portugal since October... This is torture! https://theportugalpost.com/posts/travellers-face-3-6-hour-queues-at-lisbon-airport-under-new-eu-checks
ReplyDeleteOh now I see that VANCI is operator there. Now everything has sense
DeleteTheir union, their rules... Just go to Montenegro or Georgia until it gets a bit easier.
ReplyDeleteUnironically - this. Luckily I don't need to travel to the EU for work for the time being, so I'm just going to go elsewhere until the EU gets on top of the self inflicted wound. Life's too short to wait for hours in queues at the border due to incompetence and bureaucracy, especially when I want to unwind for a couple of days for the holidays while spending my hard earned cash.
DeleteExactly. No way I'm going in EU this winter and begging God not to have some business ocassion before this settles. There are other amazing places to see and this is great opportunity. I "sent" couple of friends to Mostar with this argument :)
DeleteI'm sure the E.U. countries will be devastated and promptly change course to loose the entry requirements for non EU nationals.
DeleteEES has been the most ridiculously stupid thing i have experienced so far. Just the other day at VIE. The separate you if you have an entry permit vs if you are a tourist... for 10 m... only to syphon you back together in front of the passport control again. On ecit, everyone goes to the same lane. They take pics of some, they fingerprint some, others they let go. Those camers that are supposed to move up and down to take a photo of you are a hit and miss in 50 perect of the time. Almost never work for kids, so they have to be held uo in oder to have their photi taken. State of EU perfectly personified at their borders atm. Total and htter chaos.
ReplyDeleteWell now it's all about controlling the migrations so it's understandable. I was waiting more than 2 hours to enter Israel and good 90 mins to enter China, no one called it chaos, business as usual
DeleteTell that to Ahmed cutting the Hungarian fence right now, hes about to wait much less than legitimate travelers.
DeleteReason 254.363 that I am grateful for my EU passport!
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I was afraid of this for my flight on last Saturday from PRN to GVA, but no fingerprints and photo taken for my family and me. I remember we did those maybe a year ago. Total waiting time for passport control on entrance was 45 minutes. This Saturday going back the same route GVA to PRN, fingers crossed. Any advice should I use French or Swiss sector? It says France is the one with more problems but maybe not at the GVA airport.
ReplyDelete