EES causes airport backlog
- New EU Entry/Exit System checks are creating long border queues and travel delays across Europe. - A Ryanair Milan‑to‑Manchester flight left some passengers behind after long border‑control lines. - The disruption has been directly linked to the EES rollout and stranded travelers in Milan (bbc.com).
Europe’s new digital border system is now causing airport queues long enough to make passengers miss flights. (ec.europa.eu) On 16 April, passengers booked on a Ryanair flight from Milan Bergamo to Manchester were left behind after delays at passport control, with reports putting the number at about 30. Ryanair said the flight departed after the gate closed and blamed passport control delays at the airport. (independent.co.uk) The Entry/Exit System, or EES, became fully operational on 10 April 2026 after a phased rollout that began on 12 October 2025. It replaces passport stamps for short-stay non-European Union travelers with digital records, facial images and fingerprints collected at the border. (ec.europa.eu) The system covers 29 European countries using EES and is meant to log each entry, exit or refusal of entry for short-stay non-EU nationals. The European Commission said more than 45 million border crossings had already been registered during the rollout before full operation began. (ec.europa.eu) Airports and airlines say the first days of full enforcement have produced waits of up to three hours at some border checkpoints. Industry groups including Airports Council International Europe and Airlines for Europe have asked for powers to suspend biometric checks temporarily during severe disruption. (theguardian.com) The Milan disruption is not the only case linked to the rollout. The Independent reported that an easyJet flight from Milan Linate to Manchester left with 34 of 156 booked passengers on board after nearly three-hour passport control queues, leaving 122 behind. (independent.co.uk) EU officials say the system is designed to tighten border checks and catch identity fraud by matching travelers’ fingerprints and facial images against stored records. The Commission said EES had already helped identify more than 600 people considered security risks and logged more than 24,000 refusals of entry during the rollout. (ec.europa.eu) For travelers, the immediate change is practical rather than abstract: border control now takes longer for many first-time EES users, especially non-EU passengers on short stays. In Milan, that meant some passengers watched their Manchester flight leave while they were still in the queue. (independent.co.uk)
