The EU’s new Entry Exit System (EES) has nearly tripled the time it takes some UK nationals to pass passport control, even after technical improvements, the boss of Rome’s main airport has said.

The comments come as Ryanair warned passengers travelling to Europe this summer to expect longer delays at border checks. The airline said the EES rollout had failed and was creating unnecessary queues.

In Portugal, border police at Faro airport told the BBC that the technology behind the system had suffered from software problems, though officials said any disruption there should ease quickly.

The European Commission said disruptions in most EU airports had been limited and that it will continue to support member states with implementation.

How the Entry Exit System works

The digital EES requires non-EU travellers entering the Schengen area, which includes 29 European countries, to record fingerprints and a photograph on arrival. The recorded data is then checked when travellers leave.

In many airports, the process is carried out using standalone automated “kiosks”. Border officers may also conduct checks, including for children under 12 who cannot use the self-service route.

The system and related machines have been phased in since October.

At several European airports, passenger numbers processed through passport control have led to queues lasting hours. Some travellers reported missing flights as they waited to clear border checks.

Rome Fiumicino: delays still higher than before

At Rome Fiumicino, airport officials have concluded it is difficult to process large volumes of passengers solely through the kiosks, which cost €12m. In response, UK nationals can now enrol their biometrics at passport e-gates rather than having to use the standalone machines.

The airport’s chief aviation officer, Ivan Bassato, said integrating the process with e-gates improved matters “significantly”. However, he said the added complexity still increased the average time for UK travellers to reach the border from seven minutes to 20 minutes.

Bassato said the process had not yet returned to its pre-EES quality and that waits of one or two hours were unacceptable for an airport “well set with technology”.

He also argued that authorities should remove duplication within the process, and said he would like to see more countries adopt the EU’s pre-registration app. Only Sweden and Portugal are currently using the tool.

Countries can suspend EES under exceptional circumstances. Airports and airlines have been urging the Commission to allow earlier, proactive suspension during peak periods, but a meeting earlier this month did not lead to changes.

Travellers in Rome reported delays consistent with the airport’s concerns. People questioned near the Piazza di Spagna described taking around 45 to 50 minutes at passport control, and others said queues were close to an hour, with boarding and departures affected.

Faro: queues vary; “bugs” linked across states

Faro airport superintendent Pedro Oliveira said the number of passengers, including many arriving from the UK, can make queuing unavoidable. However, he said the time for some travellers had risen from about 10 minutes to more than 30 minutes at times.

He said queues exceeding an hour were uncommon, but could occur if more flights than expected arrive at the same time. Oliveira said automated machines were generally the quickest route.

He added that EES has been affected by bugs and that the system’s dependence on interconnected servers can spread faults across member states. He said crashes can occur simultaneously and require a reboot across affected systems, though he noted this problem was happening less often than earlier on.

More staff have been recruited to help manage the checks. In Portugal, children under 16 are directed to border police staff to have their biometric information recorded, rather than using the self-service machines.

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19 July 2026

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UK travellers get stuck in EES glitches, Suvarnabhumi passengers get stuck in empty booths.

Different causes, same misery.

Europe’s wrestling with new biometrics; Bangkok’s simply short of officers. Either way, hit the wrong arrival wave and you’re in for a long, slow shuffle!