EU border queues grow

Europe’s new digital border checks are producing multi-hour queues at some airports and leaving some passengers behind. (europa.eu) The European Union’s Entry/Exit System became fully operational on 10 April 2026 across the Schengen area, replacing passport stamps with digital records for non-EU visitors on short stays. The system logs a traveller’s name, passport details, fingerprints, facial image, and the place and date of entry or exit. (europa.eu) The European Commission said the system first started operating on 12 October 2025 and had already recorded more than 45 million border crossings before the full rollout. Under the rules, first-time registration takes biometrics at the border, while later trips are meant to use faster verification. (europa.eu) The delays are hitting the travellers the system was built to track: “third-country nationals,” meaning people from outside the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland. For British travellers, that status changed after Brexit, putting them inside the new checks when they enter the Schengen zone. (independent.co.uk) Airlines had warned the change could slow airports during the rollout. Ryanair’s help centre says the system may cause longer queues because affected passengers may need fingerprint or photo registration before crossing the border. (ryanair.com) Those warnings turned concrete at Milan Bergamo on 16 April, when passengers for a Ryanair flight to Manchester said passport control delays left them stranded. Ryanair said “a number of passengers missed this flight” because of passport control delays, while adding that anyone who reached the gate before it closed would have boarded. (independent.co.uk) British traveller Adam Hassanjee told BBC News the queues at Milan Bergamo were “complete chaos” and said he waited about 90 minutes without moving. The Independent separately reported another Milan incident in which more than 100 EasyJet passengers were left behind amid Entry/Exit System disruption. (independent.co.uk, independent.co.uk) Some governments are already adjusting. The Independent reported that Greece told the travel industry British visitors would be exempt from fingerprint and facial biometric collection this summer, even though the deadline for full biometric collection at Schengen frontiers was 10 April. (independent.co.uk) The system is supposed to do more than replace ink stamps. The Commission says it automatically detects overstayers and records refusals of entry, part of a broader “smart borders” project built to track the 90-days-in-180 rule for short visits. (europa.eu, europa.eu) For now, the immediate change for travellers is simple: border checks that used to end with a stamp can now include a biometric enrollment step, and that extra step is slowing some crossings. Airlines and border agencies are still trying to absorb the April 10 switch without repeating the queues seen in the system’s first full week. (europa.eu, ryanair.com)