Airlines across Europe have joined airport organisations in calling for an immediate review of the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) implementation timeline ahead of summer, when tourism traffic will peak.
“Failing immediate action to provide sufficient flexibility, severe disruptions over the peak summer months are a real prospect, with queues [at Schengen border checks] potentially reaching 4 hours or more,” the groups warned in a letter to the European Commission.
The new EU digital border system, the EES, is currently being rolled out in EU countries (except for Cyprus and Ireland), as well as Schengen area countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
It requires third country nationals entering Europe's Schengen open-borders zone to register personal data and provide biometric information at the first border crossing. The data is held in digital form in an EU-wide database tracking each time visitors enter and exit the Schengen area, to avoid stays beyond the limits of the 90/180 day rule. The system is due to gradually replace the manual stamping of passports.
READ ALSO: EU says countries can halt EES checks over summer to avoid travel chaos
On Wednesday, three groups representing the aviation industry – Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, Airlines for Europe (A4E) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) – wrote to the Commission arguing that the EES “continues to cause significant delays for passengers” with “persistent excessive waiting times of up to 2 hours at airport border control”.
The groups attribute the delays to “chronic border control understaffing, unresolved technology issues, especially with regard to border automation, and the very limited uptake of the Frontex pre-registration app by Schengen states.”
EU border agency Frontex has developed the back-end part of a self-registration app that can be used ahead of checks. The app has been made available to Schengen countries on a voluntary basis. Each government can decide if, when and where to use it, and develop the front-end part based on its own needs. Only Sweden has been using the app however.
The EES was launched on October 12th 2025 with the goal to register a growing proportion of visitors and reach full operation within six months, by April 2026.
But the groups argue that “unless immediate action is taken to resolve these critical issues, mandatory EES registrations of all border crossings during the peak summer season, in particular in July and August, would result in waiting times of up to 4 hours or more”.
A Commission spokesperson recently said that Schengen countries have the ability to partially suspend the EES over the summer to avoid travel chaos at ports and airports. "After the completion of the roll-out, Member States will still be able to partially suspend EES operations where necessary during a period of an additional 90 days with a possible 60-day extension to cover the summer peak,” Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert said.
But aviation operators call for more flexibility or an amendment to the current implementation timeline.
Leaders of airport and airlines group said in a joint statement: “There is a complete disconnect between the perception of the EU institutions that EES is working well, and the reality, which is that non‑EU travellers are experiencing massive delays and inconvenience.
“We need to be realistic about what will happen during the peak summer months, when traffic at Europe’s airports doubles. The rollout of EES must be flexible to react to operational realities. This is an absolute prerequisite for its success – and for safeguarding the reputation of the EU as an efficient, welcoming and desirable destination,” they added.
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