Ryanair, Airlines for Europe and Airports Council International have jointly called on the European Commission to suspend full enforcement of the Schengen Entry/Exit System (EES) for the peak July–August travel window. Speaking on 2 July, Ryanair’s COO Neal McMahon said passengers should not be “guinea pigs” for a biometric control regime that “is not ready for peak loads”. The EES, live since October 2025, replaces passport stamps with fingerprint and facial scans for third-country nationals. While most Member States continued with a phased roll-out, Germany activated the system at all major airports in April 2026 to coincide with the opening of Frankfurt’s Terminal 3. According to Aletta von Massenbach, CEO of Berlin-Brandenburg Airport, non-EU travellers have already queued “up to two hours” at dedicated EES kiosks on busy mornings, threatening minimum-connect times for hub traffic. For corporate travel programmes, the timing could not be worse. Germany’s summer trade-fair calendar – including Hannover’s InnoTrans preview and Munich’s IAA Mobility set-up – attracts thousands of visa-exempt business visitors from the UK, US and Japan. Long biometric queues raise the risk of missed connections, extra overnight stays and project delays.
![Airlines urge EU to pause Entry/Exit System as Berlin airport warns of two-hour queues for non-EU travellers]()
To help mitigate those headaches, VisaHQ offers an online platform that lets travellers pre-check Schengen entry rules, upload documents for verification and receive step-by-step guidance on EES registration—all before they reach the airport. Corporate travel managers can direct employees to https://www.visahq.com/germany/ for real-time updates and digital processing options, reducing the likelihood of delays at German border control.
Travel managers are therefore advising delegates to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure and to factor buffer days into meeting schedules. Germany’s Federal Police (Bundespolizei) say they will deploy additional officers at Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin if throughput drops below target. However, unions warn that staffing is already stretched by continued internal border checks. The Commission has convened an emergency meeting for next Tuesday; industry insiders believe a partial suspension or grace-period until September is the most likely outcome. Until clarity emerges, businesses should communicate the new biometric requirement to travellers, pre-register passports where possible, and encourage mobile enrolment via the forthcoming EU Digital Travel Credentials app – slated for soft launch later this month.
To help mitigate those headaches, VisaHQ offers an online platform that lets travellers pre-check Schengen entry rules, upload documents for verification and receive step-by-step guidance on EES registration—all before they reach the airport. Corporate travel managers can direct employees to https://www.visahq.com/germany/ for real-time updates and digital processing options, reducing the likelihood of delays at German border control.
Travel managers are therefore advising delegates to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure and to factor buffer days into meeting schedules. Germany’s Federal Police (Bundespolizei) say they will deploy additional officers at Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin if throughput drops below target. However, unions warn that staffing is already stretched by continued internal border checks. The Commission has convened an emergency meeting for next Tuesday; industry insiders believe a partial suspension or grace-period until September is the most likely outcome. Until clarity emerges, businesses should communicate the new biometric requirement to travellers, pre-register passports where possible, and encourage mobile enrolment via the forthcoming EU Digital Travel Credentials app – slated for soft launch later this month.
