Travelers flying into—or out of—Europe this summer may find the longest part of the journey begins after the aircraft lands.

The European Union’s Entry/Exit System, better known as EES, has been fully operational since 10 April 2026 after a six-month phased rollout. It replaces manual passport stamping with a digital record for eligible non-EU nationals visiting 29 European countries for short stays. On a traveler’s first registration, border authorities collect passport information, a facial image and, in most cases, fingerprints. Children under 12 are not fingerprinted, although they remain subject to the system.

The long-term logic is straightforward: stronger identity checks, better detection of overstays and less dependence on passport stamps. The immediate passenger experience, however, has been far less elegant.

A digital border with very physical queues

EES was designed to make borders smarter, but its rollout has exposed the uncomfortable gap between installing technology and operating it at peak capacity.

ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe reported two- to three-hour waits and missed flights on the first day of full operation. By July, an aviation industry letter to the European Commission said queues had reached five hours during some peak periods, despite temporary flexibility allowing authorities to suspend parts of the biometric process.

Ryanair has called it “the failed EES rollout” and warned passengers to allow extra time. The airline has identified recurring trouble spots including Lisbon, Madrid, Málaga, Tenerife South, Milan Malpensa, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Kraków and Budapest. Its criticism should be read as an airline’s position rather than a neutral assessment, but the list shows the problem is no longer confined to one airport or country.

READ MORE: What is ETIAS and what does it bring to EU tourism?

Rome Fiumicino has become one of the clearest examples. The airport invested €12 million in EES infrastructure, yet processing times have reportedly nearly tripled for some UK travelers. Chief Aviation Officer Ivan Bassato admitted:

“We are not at the point where you have the same quality of the process before the EES.”

Faro Airport in Portugal has reported a similar, if generally less severe, pattern. Superintendent Pedro Oliveira said,

“Sometimes what used to be a 10-minute queue … takes over 30 minutes.” He also highlighted the system’s technical interdependence: a server problem elsewhere in Europe can affect processing in Portugal.

Why kiosks have not solved it

The obvious answer—add more self-service kiosks—is not proving sufficient. Machines still require space, functioning national interfaces, reliable central systems, passenger guidance and enough border officers to deal with exceptions. When several wide-body or holiday flights arrive together, even a 70- or 90-second process per passenger becomes a serious capacity problem.

The EU’s official guidance says first-time travelers may pre-register some information through self-service equipment or the Travel to Europe mobile app where the relevant country supports it. Yet adoption of the app remains limited, and it does not replace the final border check.

This is also why the usual “arrive two hours early” advice may not be enough for passengers departing through an external Schengen border. IATA has advised travelers to consider arriving two to three hours before departure and getting airside quickly while the system remains unstable.

READ MORE: Amadeus and ICAO Partner on Digital Identity in Aviation

For travelers, the practical response is not complicated: avoid tight self-transfers, leave generous time before onward transport, keep booking confirmations accessible and check airport or airline updates on the day of travel. Direct flights may cost more, but they are increasingly attractive when an itinerary depends on clearing passport control and checking in again within a narrow window.

These warnings are less relevant to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, as well as certain residents and other exempt categories. Travelers should also avoid confusing EES with ETIAS. EES is a border registration system already in operation; ETIAS is a separate pre-travel authorization expected to launch in the final quarter of 2026.

Conclusion: Europe digitised the check before redesigning the journey

EES is not failing because digital borders are inherently a bad idea. The United States already uses programs such as Mobile Passport Control and Global Entry to move information collection or traveler screening upstream. The UK’s ETA likewise requires permission before travel rather than introducing the entire digital burden at the passport booth.

Europe’s weakness is orchestration. EES connects central infrastructure, national systems, airports, kiosks, border police and millions of unfamiliar users, but the passenger journey still depends heavily on what happens in a crowded arrivals hall. The most useful improvement would be broader mobile pre-registration, clearer queue data and automatic flexibility when waiting times exceed agreed limits.

Until that happens, EES should be treated like weather or industrial action: not a reason to avoid Europe, but a genuine operational risk that belongs in every summer itinerary.