British holidaymakers face the prospect of up to two years of disruption at European borders, after an EU travel official warned that a controversial new entry system may take up to two years to “stabilise”.
The Entry Exit System (EES), which requires UK travellers and other non-EU visitors to provide fingerprints and photographs when entering the Schengen Area, is already causing lengthy delays at key airports across Europe.
Uku Sarekanno, deputy executive director of EU border agency Frontex, said several member states were still struggling to adapt to the new system, with bottlenecks expected to persist well beyond its initial rollout.
“We expect that the situation will stabilise in one or two years,” he said, acknowledging that the early phase of implementation is proving particularly challenging.
The system, which applies to 29 European countries, is designed to create a digital record of third-country travellers, stored for up to three years. But the initial enrolment process—requiring biometric data to be collected at border control—has led to significant congestion at busy airports.
Airline industry groups have warned that queues could stretch to several hours during peak periods this summer, with some estimates suggesting waits of up to six hours at certain hubs.
Airports in Spain, Portugal, France and Italy have been among the most affected, as authorities attempt to scale up infrastructure to meet the new requirements.
Earlier this year, more than 100 easyJet passengers missed a flight from Milan Linate to Manchester after delays at passport control linked to the system’s introduction.
Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, warned that prolonged disruption risked undermining confidence in the policy.
“If the EU’s own expectation is that queues will last up to two years, that’s not a teething problem, that’s a serious policy failure,” he said.
Travel industry bodies have urged Brussels to extend contingency measures to prevent widespread disruption during peak holiday seasons, arguing that implementation should be accelerated where possible.
Abta said the industry supported the principle of strengthening border security, but warned that prolonged delays risked damaging Europe’s reputation as a tourist destination.
While officials insist the system will eventually streamline repeat travel—since biometric data will not need to be re-collected for three years—operators say the short-term impact is already being felt by passengers.
The rollout, which began in October last year and was expanded in April, now applies across around 1,700 border crossing points throughout the Schengen Area.
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