Aviation groups say EES still causing chaos and 5-hour delays

Aviation groups ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe (A4E) say the European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is still causing chaos at airports and delays of up to five hours.

EES causing chaos 6 months after launch

“Nearly six months after the full implementation of the EES, waiting times remain unacceptably high,” ACI and A4E wrote in a press release. “[R]eaching up to five hours at peak traffic times in the most extreme cases – and still routinely exceeding two hours.” The aviation groups have now laid out a six-point plan to make the new visa system “secure and operationally effective”. 

The plan includes: eliminating double verification; optimising biometric verification; preventing duplicate EES profiles; updating the “Travel to Europe” app; making Automated Border Control for third-country nationals more effective; and restoring the possibility to suspend the EES when waiting times become excessive. 

The EES was partially launched in October 2025 and took full effect on April 10, 2026. On their first visit to any EU country, non-EU citizens must log their passport details and biometric data at a dedicated booth before proceeding to passport control. The system was designed to speed up travel and replace the passport stamp system for logging arrivals and departures.

The ACI and A4E say six months after full implementation, and after the summer rush, disruption persists despite “considerable efforts” by border authorities and airports to address problems. Passengers face “unnecessary hardship”, and airport staff face “exceptional pressure”, the groups wrote in their press release.

EU has already said suspension is “not possible”

This is not the first time aviation groups have urgently appealed to the EU for help. In early July, the ACI, A4E and IATA jointly warned the EU that passengers were already facing long waits before the busy summer period even began, calling on the bloc to “take stock of reality” and temporarily suspend checks in July and August. 

According to ACI, passengers faced waits of up to five hours to log their information at the EES control point; some planes have had to delay takeoff to wait for passengers, and other flights saw “half-empty planes at gate closing time”.

In an open letter to EU President Ursula von der Leyen, ACI said the chaos was “undermining Europe’s reputation” and putting the EU’s regulatory framework “at stake”. The EU responded that only “20 difficult spots” had extensive queues and that a full suspension was “not needed” and “not possible”. 

In the most recent appeal, ACI director general Olivier Jankovec and A4E managing director Ourania Georgoutsakou said that, six months after rollout, the system still was “not delivering on efficient border crossings, and the promise of faster, more seamless travel remains unmet”.