The European Union's new Entry/Exit System is causing extensive passenger queues and travel delays at major airports across the region [1, 2].
These bottlenecks occur during the peak summer travel season, testing the capacity of the bloc's digital infrastructure as it transitions away from manual passport stamping. The delays threaten to disrupt international travel flows at critical entry points, including Berlin Brandenburg Airport [4, 5].
The Entry/Exit System, or EES, is a digital biometric platform designed to automate border checks. A gradual rollout of the system began Oct. 12, 2025 [3], with full implementation scheduled for summer 2026 [3].
Travelers have reported waiting for hours in line to complete the biometric process [3]. Some airports are experiencing waiting times of up to five hours [4]. The system replaces traditional ink stamps in passports with a digital record of entries and exits.
Officials said the delays are due to technical and capacity challenges. The combination of high passenger volumes and data-security requirements has overwhelmed the processing capacity of several terminals [1, 3]. These bottlenecks have turned some arrival halls into long-term waiting rooms as passengers struggle to clear the new biometric checkpoints [4].
While the EU intended the EES to enhance security and streamline the process, the current implementation has created significant friction. The system requires biometric data collection, which can slow down the flow of passengers compared to the previous manual stamping method [1, 2].
“Airports are experiencing up to five-hour waiting times”
The friction at European borders highlights the difficulty of scaling biometric technology across a diverse set of international transit hubs. While the EES is intended to increase security and reduce illegal stays through better data tracking, the initial operational failures suggest a gap between the system's digital design and the physical reality of peak-season passenger volume.
