Millions of Brits Hit Four-Hour Airport Delays as Schengen Entry/exit System Starts

(LANZAROTE AIRPORT) — European countries brought the Entry/Exit System into full operation today, subjecting British travellers to biometric checks at EU borders and triggering waits of up to four hours at major airports.

The new digital border regime now applies across 29 European countries, replacing passport stamps with automated kiosks that record when non-EU residents enter and exit the Schengen area. British travellers arriving in EU countries must scan their passport, have their photo taken and provide digital fingerprints if they are aged 12 and over.

Airports across Europe are already dealing with severe congestion. One traveller faced a three-hour delay at Lanzarote Airport last month, and similar delays were reported in Brussels, Lisbon and Prague.

The Entry/Exit System records stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. It marks a shift from manual border stamping to a digital record built through biometric checks, including fingerprint scanning and facial recognition.

That change now reaches all EU airports and ports across 29 European countries. It covers all EU member states except Ireland and Cyprus, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

For travellers leaving Britain on certain cross-Channel routes, registration happens before departure rather than on arrival. Passengers using Eurostar at St Pancras, Eurotunnel LeShuttle at Folkestone or the Port of Dover complete Entry/Exit System registration before leaving the UK.

The launch comes with warnings from parts of the travel industry that the system is not moving smoothly. Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary called it “a shambles” and called for a five-month delay.

Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of Advantage Travel Partnership, said there are still “significant issues” with the system. She urged British travellers to arrive at major southern European airports four hours before their scheduled departure time.

For passengers, the process itself is straightforward but new. On arrival, they must present a passport at the border, stand for a photograph and provide digital fingerprints if they fall within the age group covered by the rule.

Officials will then create a digital record of the journey. That record governs short stays within the Schengen area under the 90 days in any 180-day period rule.

No advance registration is required. British travellers do not need to do anything before travel because registration takes place at border control on the day of travel.

The process is also free of charge. That means travellers face new procedures and potentially longer queues, but no registration fee.

At busy gateways, though, the time cost may be substantial. The warning from travel executives to arrive four hours early at major southern European airports reflects concern that bottlenecks will form as each passenger completes biometric checks.

Those checks sit at the centre of the Entry/Exit System. Instead of a border officer relying on a passport stamp, the system captures fingerprints and a facial image, then logs entry and exit digitally.

Supporters of digital border systems have long argued that automation can standardise checks. On the first day of full operation, however, the practical issue for many passengers is queue length.

Lanzarote offers one recent example. A traveller there waited three hours last month, a delay that has fed broader concern over how the system will perform once every covered airport and port applies it in full.

Similar scenes in Brussels, Lisbon and Prague suggest the pressure is not isolated to one route or one holiday airport. The disruption spans business hubs, city gateways and leisure destinations.

For British travellers, the breadth of the rollout matters because the Schengen area covers much of continental Europe. Anyone travelling to participating countries now encounters the same digital border architecture rather than traditional passport stamping.

Ireland and Cyprus remain outside the system among EU member states. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland are included.

That makes the regime wider than the European Union alone. It also means passengers moving through a range of popular routes, from Mediterranean holiday airports to rail and ferry terminals linked to Britain, now meet the same core process.

Cross-Channel passengers face a slightly different sequence. At St Pancras, Folkestone and Dover, the registration step takes place before they leave the UK because those ports operate with juxtaposed controls.

The British government has provided £10.5 million to help minimise disruption at those juxtaposed ports. The funding breaks down to £3.5 million per port.

That support reflects concern that queueing pressure could build quickly where many passengers must pass through controls in a limited space. Rail, shuttle and ferry terminals can process large numbers within short departure windows.

Even so, the launch day focus has fallen on airports, where reports of long waits have already circulated. Industry warnings about four-hour delays at major hubs have sharpened attention on staffing, passenger flow and the time needed for each enrolment.

The system applies to non-EU residents entering and leaving the Schengen area. For British travellers, that means a new border routine on trips that many had grown used to making with a passport check and a stamp.

Each step adds a small task. Passport scanning takes time, photographs take time and fingerprint capture takes time, particularly when repeated across high passenger volumes at peak periods.

Those cumulative minutes can turn into hours when lines build. Travel executives’ advice to arrive four hours early at major southern European airports reflects that arithmetic as much as any single breakdown.

O’Leary’s criticism pointed to a broader frustration in the travel sector. Calling the system “a shambles,” he argued that authorities should postpone it for five months rather than press ahead while operators still report strain.

Lo Bue-Said’s warning was narrower but pointed in the same direction. Her reference to “significant issues” suggested that, for many travellers, the challenge will be less about understanding the rules than enduring the wait.

For families, another practical detail is age. Children aged 12 and over must provide digital fingerprints, while younger children are outside that fingerprinting threshold.

The first encounter with the Entry/Exit System may also shape how passengers think about future travel to Europe. A process designed to create a digital record for every short stay now becomes part of the front end of the journey, not a background administrative step.

Yet the message from authorities on preparation remains simple. Travellers do not need to complete forms or online registration before departure, and they do not need to pay to be enrolled.

Everything happens at the border on the day of travel. That may spare passengers extra paperwork before a trip, but it also concentrates the workload at kiosks and control points.

At Lanzarote Airport, where queues had already stretched for hours last month, the first day of full implementation will be watched closely by passengers and operators alike. The measure now covers the whole network of participating countries, leaving no room for travellers to avoid the new checks by choosing another Schengen destination.

For British passengers heading into Europe today, the change is immediate: scan the passport, look into the camera, place fingers on the reader and wait for the line to move.