From 10 April the European Union has switched on its fully digital Entry/Exit System (EES) across 29 participating states, replacing passport stamps with facial-image and fingerprint capture for all non-EU short-stay visitors. Airlines and airport groups predict processing times could rise by up to 70 per cent during the first months, with reports of queues exceeding two hours at pilot locations. Ireland, which remains outside Schengen, is not implementing EES and will continue to stamp passports manually. While that spares arriving passengers the new biometric enrolment, it creates fresh complexity for travellers undertaking multi-leg itineraries: an American executive flying New York–Dublin–Paris will clear manual Irish controls on arrival, but must register biometrics in Paris on departure if they have not previously done so. Corporate mobility managers should alert staff that first-time EES registration could add 30-45 minutes at connecting hubs such as Amsterdam or Frankfurt. Employees should build longer Minimum Connection Times (MCTs) into self-booked itineraries and upload biometric details through the EU “Travel to Europe” app where available. Irish employers hosting frequent travellers from the UK and US may wish to schedule trips before mid-summer, when volumes peak. Conversely, Ireland’s decision to remain outside EES could bolster its attractiveness for conferences expecting large numbers of non-EU delegates, provided organisers arrange dedicated transfer desks for onward Schengen journeys. Long term, the divergence underscores the importance of Ireland’s parallel border-modernisation programme; the Department of Justice is trialling eGates for visa-required nationals, but full digital exit tracking remains at least three years away.
Source: Business Traveller
