EU biometrics cause queues
- New EU Entry/Exit biometric checks caused major passport delays, disrupting Ryanair Milan–Manchester flights this month. - A report said passport queues at Milan airport reached about three hours during the disruption. - The delay shows biometric border rollouts are already creating real traveler friction at major European airports. (nomadlawyer.org)
Britons flying home from Milan this month were caught in passport queues of up to three hours as the European Union’s new biometric border system bedded in. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, independent.co.uk) The European Commission says the Entry/Exit System became fully operational on 10 April 2026 across the Schengen area after a phased rollout that began on 12 October 2025. It replaces passport stamps for short-stay non-European Union travelers with digital records tied to a facial image and fingerprints. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) At Milan Linate, the disruption was severe enough that an easyJet flight to Manchester left with 34 passengers on board out of 156 booked, according to The Independent. Ryanair has warned customers in its help center that the new checks “may cause longer queues” during the rollout to full operation. (independent.co.uk, help.ryanair.com) The new system applies to non-European Union nationals entering the Schengen area for short stays, including British travelers after Brexit. On a first crossing, border officers or kiosks record passport details, fingerprints and a facial image; later trips are supposed to need only a quicker verification. (eeas.europa.eu, commission.europa.eu, commission.europa.eu) That first-time registration is where airports have been bracing for delays. The Council of the European Union says the system is meant to automate entry and exit records and detect overstays, while travel reporting before full launch said processing at some checkpoints could take up to four times longer than the old stamp-only routine. (consilium.europa.eu, independent.co.uk) European Union officials have presented the change as both a security and efficiency upgrade. The Commission said more than 45 million border crossings were recorded during the phased rollout before full operation began this month. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) Airports and airlines have been warning for months that the transition could jam busy terminals, especially where large numbers of non-Schengen passengers arrive in short waves. Reporting before launch repeatedly identified Milan as one of the airports most exposed to long border lines under the new regime. (independent.co.uk, independent.co.uk) For travelers, the immediate change is simple: the old passport stamp is gone, but the first biometric check can take much longer than a stamp ever did. Milan’s queues showed how quickly that tradeoff can turn into missed flights when a new border system meets a peak departure bank. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu, independent.co.uk)
