Barely three months after its go-live, the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) is creaking under the weight of the summer travel surge—nowhere more visibly than at Brussels Airport. On 3 July 2026, Aviation24.be reported that airlines, airports and industry bodies had written a joint letter warning of "unbearable pressure" as non-EU passengers faced waits of up to five hours at automated border kiosks. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen conceded there is “still a lot to do” to stabilise the biometric platform.
![EU Entry/Exit System causes five-hour queues at Brussels Airport; Commission pledges fixes]()
For travelers seeking a smoother journey, VisaHQ can help cut through the confusion. Its online portal provides real-time advice on Belgian visa options, Schengen entry rules and upcoming EES/ETIAS procedures, letting passengers organise documents and appointments well before they reach the airport—potentially shaving precious minutes off border formalities.
EES replaces passport-stamping with facial and fingerprint scans, creating a central database to spot over-stays. While security agencies laud the early arrest of more than 1,000 overstayers and wanted persons, operational glitches—slow fingerprint readers, software time-outs and a shortage of staffed help-desks—have left carriers scrambling to re-book missed connections. Brussels Airlines says it has already processed 9,400 ‘mis-connects’ since April, costing an estimated €2.6 million in hotel and re-accommodation charges. For Belgium, the bottlenecks come at an awkward time: the country hosts rotating EU Council meetings and will welcome two major congresses in July. The federal aviation police have rushed 60 extra officers to manual-booth duty, yet acknowledge that throughput is still 30 % below 2019 levels for third-country nationals. Corporate travel managers should advise non-EU assignees to arrive at least four hours before long-haul departures and to register biometrics on first entry to the Schengen Area if possible. Employers may also wish to add ‘EES buffer clauses’ to service-level agreements with relocation vendors. Long-term, the Commission says a software patch is due before 31 July and that member states, including Belgium, are eligible for emergency funding to expand kiosk capacity. Failure to resolve the issues could reignite calls from industry to postpone the sister ETIAS travel-authorisation scheme, now slated for late 2026. Until then, Belgium’s status as a convenient EU gateway remains under scrutiny.
For travelers seeking a smoother journey, VisaHQ can help cut through the confusion. Its online portal provides real-time advice on Belgian visa options, Schengen entry rules and upcoming EES/ETIAS procedures, letting passengers organise documents and appointments well before they reach the airport—potentially shaving precious minutes off border formalities.
EES replaces passport-stamping with facial and fingerprint scans, creating a central database to spot over-stays. While security agencies laud the early arrest of more than 1,000 overstayers and wanted persons, operational glitches—slow fingerprint readers, software time-outs and a shortage of staffed help-desks—have left carriers scrambling to re-book missed connections. Brussels Airlines says it has already processed 9,400 ‘mis-connects’ since April, costing an estimated €2.6 million in hotel and re-accommodation charges. For Belgium, the bottlenecks come at an awkward time: the country hosts rotating EU Council meetings and will welcome two major congresses in July. The federal aviation police have rushed 60 extra officers to manual-booth duty, yet acknowledge that throughput is still 30 % below 2019 levels for third-country nationals. Corporate travel managers should advise non-EU assignees to arrive at least four hours before long-haul departures and to register biometrics on first entry to the Schengen Area if possible. Employers may also wish to add ‘EES buffer clauses’ to service-level agreements with relocation vendors. Long-term, the Commission says a software patch is due before 31 July and that member states, including Belgium, are eligible for emergency funding to expand kiosk capacity. Failure to resolve the issues could reignite calls from industry to postpone the sister ETIAS travel-authorisation scheme, now slated for late 2026. Until then, Belgium’s status as a convenient EU gateway remains under scrutiny.
