As EES rollout expands, journey affiliation urges use of contingency measures to ease delays

From in the present day, Friday 9 January, the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is operational at dozens extra of the bloc’s airports and ports.

The new border controls launched in October 2025. Initially, the edge for EU nations to register third-country arrivals was set at solely 10 per cent. This has now elevated to 35 per cent.

The new system has already been inflicting important delays for air passengers.

Travel commerce affiliation ABTA is now urging better use of contingency measures by EU border officers because the EES rollout expands.

EES ends in ready occasions of as much as three hours at airports

At airports the place the EES is operational, visa-exempt travellers from the UK, US and different non-EU nations should register their biometric information at devoted kiosks.

The new border checks are already inflicting complications for passengers, who’ve reported lengthy traces as folks navigate the processing procedures for the primary time.

In some instances, delays have resulted in passengers lacking their flights.

In December final 12 months, a report from Airport Council International (ACI) Europe highlighted the extent of this disruption and referred to as for an pressing evaluation of the system.

“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 per cent, with waiting times of up to three hours at peak traffic periods,” the ACI evaluation discovered.

Travel affiliation urges use of contingency measures to ease delays

ABTA says that passengers’ expertise of the EES rollout thus far has been different, from comparatively easy to incidents the place massive queues have shaped at passport management.

With nations now required to course of 35 per cent of third-party nationals coming into the EU, there are considerations that the issues will worsen.

ABTA is urging border authorities to use the contingency measures obtainable to them.

“The EES is a change to how we travel to and from Europe, and while eventually it will make passport checks quicker, initially it may take longer,” mentioned Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive of ABTA.

As extra locations introduce the system, and extra passengers are processed by means of it, there’s a better danger that folks will face queues and delays, he warned.

“We are also urging border authorities to do all they can to minimise delays. They have contingency measures at their disposal – such as standing down the system or limiting checks – and we want them to be utilised to help manage the flow of people,” Tanzer added.

“Where problems have been experienced so far, some of these could have been avoided if the contingency measures were applied.”

How travellers can put together for the EES

ABTA has additionally supplied recommendation for travellers required to make use of the EES.

“If you are departing the EU, we’re advising passengers to go straight to passport control as soon as they have gone through check-in and security, that way you get the EES checks out of the way as early as possible,” the affiliation says.

It additionally urges travellers to comply with their transport suppliers’ recommendation on when to reach at airports, ports and different departure factors.

“The usual rule is to arrive at the airport for a flight to Europe at least two hours before, so we’d encourage people to apply that as a minimum, but to also check with their transport provider,” it says.