British tourists are experiencing significant travel disruptions across Europe due to the implementation of the European Union's new Entry/Exit System (EES), which requires non-EU travelers to provide biometric data at border control. Social media footage depicts extensive queues at airports in popular destinations including Rome, Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Faro, and Brussels.
Experts and travel industry representatives are advising Britons to arrive at airports three to four hours before their flights, particularly for the journey home, when new exit checks are enforced. Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder at AirAdvisor, suggested that while four hours may not be a universal rule, it is a necessary precaution at some European airports this summer. Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of the Advantage Travel Partnership, expressed concerns that the EES will exacerbate existing bottlenecks at airports, especially when multiple flights from the UK depart around the same time.
Cristian Sternativo, a border officer at Milan Malpensa Airport, recommended that British passengers heading to Milan allow at least three to four hours for international flights during peak months. However, some industry figures, like Paul Charles, founder and CEO of The PC Agency, have criticized the four-hour recommendation as impractical, noting that airline check-in desks often do not open that early and airports may struggle to accommodate the volume of passengers. He suggested focusing on more efficient processing to maintain standard check-in times.
Helena Sheizon, immigration director at Kadmos Immigration, offered a more nuanced perspective, suggesting that blanket four-hour advice might be an overcorrection. She emphasized that waiting times will fluctuate based on the airport, destination, and staff and passenger familiarity with the EES. She also highlighted that the primary challenge for many travelers is not the technology itself, but the unfamiliarity with the new biometric checks, which inherently take longer than a passport stamp. She advised passengers to check specific guidance from their airline and departure airport, and to familiarize themselves with the new requirements beforehand.
This new system has already led to incidents of passengers missing flights. In April, approximately 100 easyJet customers were delayed at Milan Linate Airport, and a Ryanair flight from Milan Bergamo to Manchester departed without a number of passengers who were held up by the new border rules. Reports suggest around 30 people were stranded on the latter occasion, with one passenger recounting that the plane departed after an hour and a half of waiting in line.
Ivan Bassato, Rome Fiumicino Airport's chief aviation officer, stated that the EES has negatively impacted the quality of border processes, with waiting times for UK nationals tripling from seven minutes to an average of 20 minutes. Travelers have shared experiences of two-hour queues in Rome. Similarly, at Faro Airport in Portugal, queues that previously took 10 minutes can now exceed 30 minutes. Ryanair has identified several popular European destinations experiencing significant delays due to the EES, including Lisbon, Tenerife South, Madrid, Alicante, Malaga, and various Italian, German, and Central European cities. The airline warned that with schools breaking for summer and passenger volumes peaking, these delays are likely to cause further disruption for UK families traveling abroad.
The Airports Council International Europe reported that since the EES rollout in April, border control waiting times have significantly increased, reaching up to five hours during peak periods. This is impacting millions of passengers, including families with young children, the elderly, and those with reduced mobility, while also causing operational disruption for airports and airlines, including flight delays and missed connections.