Europe border queues worsen
- The EU's new Entry/Exit System replaces stamps with biometric checks, and airports are already seeing longer queues. - Video and reports flagged significant delays at Milan Bergamo Airport, and Ryanair moved check-in and bag-drop to 60 minutes before departure. - Travelers are being advised to arrive earlier as biometric rollout friction grows at busy European airports (newsx.com) (news.ssbcrack.com) (el-balad.com).
Europe’s new digital border checks are already slowing some airport lines, with missed flights and earlier airline cutoffs appearing within days of the full rollout. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) (bbc.co.uk) The European Commission said the Entry/Exit System became fully operational on April 10, 2026, across Schengen countries, replacing passport stamps for non-EU short-stay travelers with digital records, fingerprints and facial images. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) At Milan Bergamo Airport on April 16, Ryanair passengers traveling to Manchester missed their flight after passport control delays, and the BBC reported video showing crowds of frustrated travelers waiting and asking staff for updates. (bbc.co.uk) Ryanair said on April 22 that, from November 10, 2026, its airport check-in and bag-drop desks will close 60 minutes before departure instead of 40 minutes, citing longer security and passport queues; the airline said about 20% of its customers check bags. (corporate.ryanair.com) The new system changes the first border crossing most for travelers who are not European Union citizens, because officers now collect biometric data instead of just stamping a passport. The Commission said the database also records entries, exits and refusals of entry. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) The rollout had been gradual before this month. The Commission said the system started operating on October 12, 2025, and had already logged more than 45 million border crossings before full operation began on April 10, 2026. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) Airports and airlines had warned for months that the extra checks could slow peak-period processing. Euronews reported in February that French airport groups were pushing for a delay over fears of summer disruption. (euronews.com) The first week of full operation has now produced the kind of bottlenecks those warnings described: longer passport-control lines, some stranded passengers, and airlines telling travelers to build in more time before departure. (bbc.co.uk) (corporate.ryanair.com)
