One year after the initial introduction of the European Union’s digital Entry/Exit System (EES), a coalition representing the continent’s airports and airlines has issued a formal demand for EU authorities to intervene. The European region of Airports Council International (ACI Europe) and Airlines for Europe (A4E) are calling for an urgent rethink of the system to alleviate severe congestion at Schengen external border crossings, where some passengers have endured waits of up to five hours.
The EES, which tracks the entry and exit of non-EU short-term visitors to the Schengen area, was introduced on October 12th, 2025, and reached full implementation in April 2026. Despite this, the industry groups noted that checks were paused in several locations during the summer and have not been fully enforced at major cross-Channel ports. The system requires travelers to register facial images and fingerprints upon their first crossing of an external Schengen border. Since the rollout, this process has caused significant disruption, particularly at airports in Italy and Spain.
In a statement released on Monday, ACI Europe and A4E argued that the situation remains chaotic for many travelers. They reported that nearly six months after the system's full implementation, wait times remain unacceptably high, routinely exceeding two hours and reaching up to five hours during peak traffic. The groups emphasized that this persists despite the dedicated efforts of border control authorities and the full support provided by airports. They warned that these queues expose passengers to unnecessary hardship, including missed flights and connections, while creating severe terminal congestion and placing extreme pressure on staff.
The industry groups identified several structural shortcomings within the EES, including a lack of sufficient border control staff, the instability of IT systems used to gather data, and the limited deployment of automated border control gates and self-service kiosks. Furthermore, they criticized the functionality of the “Travel to Europe” app, which is intended for remote pre-enrollment. To improve the system, the associations are calling for the optimization of biometric data verification, the elimination of “double verification” processes—which currently require checks at both a self-service kiosk and by a guard—and the implementation of measures to prevent the creation of duplicate EES profiles.
Additionally, the groups are urging the restoration of a safeguard that allowed national authorities to partially suspend the EES during periods of extreme congestion. Under current regulations, this provision expired after the summer, but the industry bodies argue it should remain in place indefinitely. While acknowledging that the EES has strengthened the security of Europe’s external borders, the groups stated that the promise of faster, more seamless travel remains unmet.
In response to these concerns, EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner placed the responsibility for the delays on individual EU Member States. In an interview with Politico, the Commissioner stated that member states had sufficient time to prepare for the system and that it is their duty to manage the situation to prevent congestion during the upcoming Christmas holidays. The EES, which operates across the 29 countries of the Schengen area, has recorded nearly 230 million entries and exits since its introduction. Commissioner Brunner noted that 80,000 entries have been refused, with 2,000 of those refusals attributed to security threats.
One year on since the introduction of the EU's EES digital border system, the European airports and airlines association has called on EU authorities to take action to ease ongoing congestion at Schengen external border crossings that has led to 5-hour waits in some cases.
The EES is operated in the 29 countries of the Schengen area (25 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). It was designed to avoid visitors staying in the Schengen area beyond the 90/180-day limit.
