Europe’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) – the biometric border-control platform that has been gradually rolled out since October 2025 – is already buckling under the pressure of peak-season passenger flows. On 1 July a coalition of the region’s main industry bodies (ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe and IATA) wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asking for an emergency power that would let airports “completely suspend” the checks whenever queues exceed capacity. They warn that travellers are facing waits of up to five hours and that some flights are leaving half-empty because passengers remain stuck at passport control.
![Airlines and Airports Urge Suspension of EU Biometric Border Checks as Summer Peak Begins]()
For business travellers and mobility managers seeking to keep relocation schedules on track, VisaHQ’s online visa and passport services can take at least one uncertainty off the table. The platform – see https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/ – provides up-to-date entry requirements, application support and real-time status tracking for Czech and other Schengen visas, ensuring staff arrive with the correct documentation even as border rules evolve.
Prague’s Václav Havel Airport is not immune. The Czech hub handled more than 1.5 million passengers in June and has already experienced hour-long queues at manual fallback booths after self-service kiosks crashed during stress tests. Czech police temporarily paused full EES verification in May – joining Germany, France and Italy – but re-activated the system in mid-June in order to comply with EU rules. With daily volumes set to surge by 20 % over the next six weeks, local authorities fear a repeat of last year’s disruption when missed connections cost Czech exporters an estimated CZK 180 million in penalty fees. For corporate mobility managers the timing could not be worse. July and August are the busiest months for rota changes at Czech manufacturing plants and for “look-and-see” visits tied to autumn expatriate assignments. Delays at the external Schengen border cascade into missed rail and domestic flight connections, forcing companies to re-book hotels and incur extra per-diem costs. Some multinationals have started advising assignees without EU citizenship to route through Vienna or Budapest, where additional kiosks have cut average processing times to under 15 minutes. If the Commission rejects the industry plea, employers should prepare contingency plans: allow at least a five-hour buffer between landing and onward meetings, book fully flexible air and rail fares, and brief travellers about the need to provide fingerprints and a facial image on arrival. Firms that sponsor short-term business visas should also warn clients that EES data will replace passport stamps, making accurate day-counting critical for 90/180-day Schengen compliance.
For business travellers and mobility managers seeking to keep relocation schedules on track, VisaHQ’s online visa and passport services can take at least one uncertainty off the table. The platform – see https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/ – provides up-to-date entry requirements, application support and real-time status tracking for Czech and other Schengen visas, ensuring staff arrive with the correct documentation even as border rules evolve.
Prague’s Václav Havel Airport is not immune. The Czech hub handled more than 1.5 million passengers in June and has already experienced hour-long queues at manual fallback booths after self-service kiosks crashed during stress tests. Czech police temporarily paused full EES verification in May – joining Germany, France and Italy – but re-activated the system in mid-June in order to comply with EU rules. With daily volumes set to surge by 20 % over the next six weeks, local authorities fear a repeat of last year’s disruption when missed connections cost Czech exporters an estimated CZK 180 million in penalty fees. For corporate mobility managers the timing could not be worse. July and August are the busiest months for rota changes at Czech manufacturing plants and for “look-and-see” visits tied to autumn expatriate assignments. Delays at the external Schengen border cascade into missed rail and domestic flight connections, forcing companies to re-book hotels and incur extra per-diem costs. Some multinationals have started advising assignees without EU citizenship to route through Vienna or Budapest, where additional kiosks have cut average processing times to under 15 minutes. If the Commission rejects the industry plea, employers should prepare contingency plans: allow at least a five-hour buffer between landing and onward meetings, book fully flexible air and rail fares, and brief travellers about the need to provide fingerprints and a facial image on arrival. Firms that sponsor short-term business visas should also warn clients that EES data will replace passport stamps, making accurate day-counting critical for 90/180-day Schengen compliance.
