Italy Drops Biometric Border Checks for May Half-Term, Brings Back Passport Stamps

(ITALY) — Italy is preparing to suspend biometric border checks at its airports during the May half-term travel period, reverting to traditional passport stamps when queues run too long as officials try to prevent severe delays after the European Entry/Exit System became mandatory last month.

The Italian Interior Ministry is drafting a decree that would allow border police to bypass the European Entry/Exit System, known as EES, and return to manual stamping whenever airport lines exceed 45 minutes. Officials expect the temporary measure to remain in place until September 30, 2026.

Ministers are scheduled to review the decree in the week following May 3, 2026. The plan would give Italy time to install more biometric kiosks and prepare for the European Union’s planned Travel to Europe smartphone pre-registration app.

The move follows weeks of disruption after EES became mandatory across the Schengen Area on April 10, 2026. The system requires all non-EU visitors to provide fingerprints and facial scans on entry, but the rollout has strained airports that were already handling heavy spring traffic.

During the May Day long weekend, waits at Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa exceeded two hours for British, U.S. and Canadian travelers. At some airports in Europe, delays reached up to four hours.

More than 120 EasyJet passengers were stranded at Milan Linate after missing a connecting flight to Manchester because of EES-related delays. The episode sharpened pressure on Italian authorities ahead of the May half-term rush, when families and short-break travelers are expected to push airport volumes higher.

Airport operators have argued that the new biometric border checks demand far more space and staff than the old system of passport stamps. Four biometric kiosks occupy the same floor space as one manual booth, a mismatch that has become harder to manage at terminals built around earlier border procedures.

Aeroporti di Roma has estimated it would need “at least 60 extra e-gates” at Fiumicino alone to keep peak-summer waits below 30 minutes. That figure illustrates the scale of the problem facing airports that must process more passengers without redesigning terminals overnight.

Italy’s plan would not shut down the central EES database. Airlines would still have to transmit Advance Passenger Information for all passengers, even if border officers switch from biometric registration back to manual passport stamping at the desks.

That leaves a hybrid system in place for much of the summer. Travelers may see officers fall back to passport stamps at the airport while the wider European database continues operating in the background.

Passports should still carry at least two blank pages, because manual stamping can resume whenever lines become excessive. Older passports showing earlier Schengen entry stamps may also matter during the transition, especially if a traveler needs to show time already spent in the Schengen Area after passing through an airport that did not complete biometric registration.

Additional connection time is also likely to remain prudent in the coming months. Border processing rules can change from one airport to another, and even within the same airport, depending on how long queues become at a given moment.

Italy is not acting alone. Greece has already suspended EES enforcement for UK visitors until September, and Portugal has begun allowing non-biometric checks when queues become excessive.

Spain, France and Croatia are also considering similar steps, a sign that pressure on the new system extends beyond one country or one holiday weekend. The broader pattern suggests that airports across southern Europe are confronting the same practical problem: the technology is now mandatory, but many terminals are not yet configured to use it at full scale without long waits.

Italian officials are trying to avoid a repeat of the congestion seen over the first major holiday test of the new rules. Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa are among the country’s busiest gateways for non-EU arrivals, and long lines there can quickly ripple into missed connections, delayed baggage collection and crowding in arrival halls.

The timing is especially sensitive because spring disruptions often carry into the summer season. Once queues build at immigration, airlines face pressure at boarding gates, airport staff must rebook missed onward passengers, and terminal space tightens as arriving travelers remain in controlled areas longer than planned.

Manual checks are slower in one sense because each passport must be handled by an officer, but airport officials have argued that the old process can still move faster than biometric enrollment when kiosks are limited and passengers are unfamiliar with the system. First-time registration under EES takes longer than a standard visual document check, particularly when fingerprints and facial scans must be captured for each non-EU traveler.

British travelers stand out in those airport lines because they are no longer covered by EU free movement rules and must pass through the same non-EU entry process as visitors from the United States and Canada. The delays reported over the May Day weekend reflected that shift in full operation after the system went live in April.

Italy’s response is designed as a temporary release valve rather than a retreat from the European system. Officials still plan to build the physical capacity needed for EES, and the proposed end date of September 30, 2026 aligns with the period when summer demand usually begins to ease.

The decree under preparation would give border police discretion rather than impose a blanket suspension. If lines stay below the 45-minute threshold, airports can continue processing passengers with biometric checks; if they rise beyond that point, officers could revert to manual passport stamps to keep traffic moving.

That flexibility may matter because conditions can differ sharply by airport and even by hour. Morning arrivals from long-haul routes can swamp inspection areas, while quieter periods later in the day may allow biometric lanes to function with fewer bottlenecks.

The coming Council of Ministers review will show whether Rome adopts the draft as planned after May 3, 2026. Airport operators and airlines will also be watching for signs of how quickly additional kiosks can be installed before the busiest weeks of summer.

Another point under close watch is the EU Travel to Europe app, which is intended to let passengers pre-register before reaching the border. If that system arrives on time and works as intended, it could ease some of the pressure now falling on airport halls, desk space and frontline officers.

Until then, the experience at many Italian airports may look familiar again: a border officer, a physical passport, and a stamp replacing a fingerprint scan for part of the journey. After a month of heavy queues and missed connections, that older routine has become Italy’s fastest way to buy time.