Carl and his family queued for two hours at Rome's Fiumicino airport after landing from Yorkshire — a wait he described as 'bad, but not as bad as that' — as the EU's new digital border system continues to cause chaos for British travellers.
The Entry Exit System (EES), phased in since October, requires non-EU citizens entering the Schengen area to register fingerprints and a photo. The impact has been dramatic: Ivan Bassato, Chief Aviation Officer at Rome's airport, told the BBC average passport control times have nearly tripled from seven to 20 minutes. 'We are not at the point where you have the same quality of the process as before the EES,' he said, adding that the airport was 'absolutely not okay with' waits of one to two hours and that 'we need to fix urgently certain aspects of the system.'
“EU's EES border system triples passport control times for Brits, airport boss urges urgent fixes.”
The warnings come as Ryanair called the rollout 'failed' and urged UK passengers to 'allow extra time for their journey and be prepared for extended waits.' Tourists across Europe have similar stories: David and his wife Marlo, visiting from the US, missed their driver after waiting about an hour; Barry from Bracknell spent 45-50 minutes at Barcelona airport due to broken kiosks; Sarah’s passport control took nearly as long as her flight.
The EES uses €12 million (£10.2 million) self-service kiosks that have proved impractical for large passenger volumes. Border police at Portugal's Faro airport admitted the technology suffers from bugs but insisted queues would 'go down quickly.' The European Commission said disruption is limited at most EU airports and pledged continued support 'to the fullest extent possible.'
The Foreign Office has advised Brits to 'be prepared to wait' on first visits, warning checks 'may take slightly longer than previously.' With no quick fix in sight, holidaymakers face a summer of extended queues.