EU border queues spike

Europe’s new Entry/Exit System went fully live on April 10, and first-time biometric checks have already pushed some airport border lines to three hours. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) (euronews.com) At Milan Linate on April 12, an easyJet flight to Manchester left with 34 of 156 booked passengers after border queues held back the rest, according to multiple reports cited by travel outlets and passenger accounts. (euronews.com) (visaverge.com) The system replaces passport stamps for non-European Union nationals on short stays with digital entry and exit records, and it also stores a facial image, fingerprints and passport data. It applies across the Schengen area’s external borders in 29 European countries. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu 1) (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu 2) (euronews.com) For border agencies, the point is to track who enters and leaves, flag overstays and catch identity fraud with biometric matching instead of ink stamps. The European Commission said on April 10 that the database had already logged more than 52 million entries and exits and more than 27,000 refusals of entry during the rollout period that began in October 2025. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) Airports and airlines had warned for weeks that the changeover was not ready for peak traffic. In a February 11 statement, Airlines for Europe, Airports Council International Europe and the International Air Transport Association said queues were already reaching two hours in parts of the phased rollout and could hit four hours in summer. (a4e.eu) (iata.org) After the first full weekend, Airlines for Europe stepped up its language and asked the European Commission to allow “full and partial suspension” of the system through the end of summer where lines become excessive. Euronews reported that the group called three-hour waits “a systemic failure,” while still backing the security goal behind the checks. (euronews.com) (a4e.eu) Some airports are already changing the flow of passengers instead of waiting for Brussels. Palma de Mallorca Airport introduced dedicated lanes for British passport holders ahead of the April 10 launch to keep one of Spain’s biggest tourist streams moving through first-entry checks. (travelradar.aero) (majorcadailybulletin.com) The pressure point is first entry. Once a traveler’s biometrics are enrolled, later crossings should be faster, but April and the summer holiday season will put millions of first-time non-European Union visitors into the new process at once. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) (euronews.com) The Commission said on April 10 that it remains in close contact with member states on implementation. For travelers, that means the new border system is no longer a future rule change; it is now part of the line at passport control. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu)