Booking.com poll: almost half fear missing flights

Booking.com-commissioned polling published in UK media on May 17 and May 18 found that many British holidaymakers expect the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System to slow border crossings this year. The survey said 59% of UK travellers heading to Europe expected delays linked to the checks, while almost half said they feared missing flights because of them. The concern centers on the EU’s Entry/Exit System, known as EES, which records biometric and travel-document data for non-EU nationals entering the Schengen area. The European Commission said the system became fully operational on April 10, 2026, after a phased rollout that began in October 2025. ### What exactly did the Booking.com poll find? Opinium surveyed 2,000 UK adults for Booking.com between May 8 and May 12, according to coverage of the poll carried by UK outlets. Among holidaymakers planning trips to Europe this year, 59% said they expected delays linked to EES. Almost half of respondents said they feared they could miss flights because of the border checks. (uk.news.yahoo.com) UK media reports on May 16, May 17 and May 18 presented the findings as a measure of consumer concern ahead of the main summer travel season. The reports did not indicate that the poll was an official government or EU study; they said it was commissioned by Booking.com and conducted by Opinium. ### What is the Entry/Exit System changing at the border? (uk.news.yahoo.com) The European Commission says EES is an automated system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for short stays each time they cross the external borders of 29 participating European countries. The system records a traveller’s name, travel-document data, biometric data including fingerprints and facial images, and the date and place of entry and exit. It also records refusals of entry. (aol.com) As of April 10, 2026, the Commission says EES replaced passport stamping for those travellers. The Commission said the system is designed to create digital records of entries and exits and to detect overstayers automatically. ### Why are UK travellers a focus in this story? Britain’s exit from the European Union left UK citizens outside the bloc for the purposes of the new short-stay border registration system. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) That means many British travellers heading to Schengen destinations are now processed as non-EU nationals under EES rules, with fingerprints and a facial image collected for the system. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) French government guidance says the system applies to nationals of non-EU and non-Schengen countries crossing the external borders of the Schengen area for short stays. UK media reports on the Booking.com poll identified British travellers as one of the groups most exposed to the new checks because of the volume of leisure travel from the UK to Europe. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) ### Are the fears in the poll tied to a recent rule change? April 10, 2026 was the key recent milestone. The European Commission said that date marked full operation of EES across the 29 participating countries, after the system started operations on October 12, 2025 under a progressive rollout. (diplomatie.gouv.fr) The same media coverage of the Booking.com poll said the rollout had intensified concern because travellers now face the system in regular use rather than in a limited introductory phase. The reports also said EU rules allow checks to be temporarily halted in some circumstances to avoid queues at peak periods. ### What should readers watch next? (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) Summer 2026 travel volumes will provide the next test of how EES performs at airports, ports and rail terminals used by UK passengers heading to the Schengen area. Booking.com’s poll was fielded in early May, after the system became fully operational in April, so further reporting from airports and border agencies is likely to focus on queue times and missed departures during peak travel weeks. (uk.news.yahoo.com) The European Commission’s EES information page remains the main official source for how the system works, who it covers and what data are collected. For UK travellers, government and airport guidance is also likely to be updated as the summer season progresses. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu) (uk.news.yahoo.com)