Schengen checks stranding fliers
Europe’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) is live and already slowing border processing — more than 120 easyJet passengers were stranded at Milan Linate in April because of the congestion and one easyJet flight left with only 34 passengers, with travel advisers now recommending arriving 4–5 hours early for some departures ( ). The rollout is affecting travel to countries including Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, where longer checks are being reported (travelandtourworld.com).
More than 120 easyJet passengers were left behind at Milan Linate on April 12 after Europe’s new digital border system slowed passport control for a Manchester flight. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, en.ilsole24ore.com, independent.co.uk) The flight, easyJet EJU5420 from Milan Linate to Manchester, had 156 passengers booked and departed with only 34 on board, according to The Independent; Il Sole 24 Ore reported the disruption on Sunday, April 12. (independent.co.uk, en.ilsole24ore.com) The bottleneck came two days after the Entry/Exit System became fully operational across the Schengen area on April 10, replacing passport stamps for short-stay non-European Union travelers with digital records, facial images and fingerprint checks. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, consilium.europa.eu) The system applies at the external borders of 29 European countries using the Entry/Exit System, and the European Commission says it records each entry, exit and refusal of entry for non-European Union nationals staying up to 90 days in any 180-day period. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, commission.europa.eu) For travelers, the biggest change is at the first crossing: the Commission says border officers collect passport data, a facial image and fingerprints, while later trips are meant to use a faster verification. (commission.europa.eu, home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) The rollout did not begin this month. The Commission set October 12, 2025 as the start of a six-month phased launch, and eu-LISA, the European Union agency that runs large-scale justice and home affairs systems, said full deployment was completed on April 10, 2026. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, ec.europa.eu, eulisa.europa.eu) Travel groups had already been warning passengers to expect longer processing. ABTA, the U.K. travel association, said on April 14 that the new Entry/Exit System had been introduced and advised customers to check requirements before traveling to Europe. (abta.com) Another border change is still ahead. The European Union says the separate European Travel Information and Authorisation System, or ETIAS, is expected to follow in the last quarter of 2026 after the Entry/Exit System rollout. (travel-europe.europa.eu) The immediate test is whether airports can clear first-time registrations without repeats of Milan, where a flight to Manchester left mostly empty because the border line moved too slowly. (independent.co.uk, en.ilsole24ore.com)
