Lengthy passport-control queues returned with a vengeance this weekend as the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) hit its first big summer-holiday surge. In an open letter dated 1 July but made public early on 5 July, airport association ACI Europe—joined by Airlines for Europe (A4E) and IATA—warned that non-EU travellers are already waiting up to five hours at Schengen borders and that the situation could deteriorate further during July and August. The letter calls on the European Commission to grant member states, including associate member Switzerland, the right to suspend the biometric checks wholesale over the peak period.
Why it matters for Switzerland. Although the EES is an EU initiative, Switzerland is legally bound to implement it under the Schengen Association Agreement. Zurich, Geneva and Basel airports therefore face the same biometric capture requirements—fingerprints and facial images—for every third-country national who has not yet “enrolled” in the system. Unlike legacy stamp-and-go controls, the first enrolment can take several minutes per person, quickly overwhelming booths that were sized for the pre-EES world. Zurich Airport processed roughly 4.3 million non-Schengen arriving passengers in 2025; repeating that volume under EES without process changes would require either 30–40 per cent more staffed booths or widespread self-service kiosks that are not yet fully certified.
Business-travel impact. Swiss-based corporates rely heavily on transatlantic and long-haul Asian itineraries that originate in Zurich or connect in EU hubs. With EES queues propagating downstream, missed connections mean re-booking fees, duty-of-care headaches and potential breach of “14-day-rule” assignment schedules. Travel managers are already advising executives to add 60–90 minutes buffer when re-entering the Schengen zone. SMEs that time-box customer visits into single-day turn-arounds may simply postpone trips until clarity emerges.
![Swiss Airports Brace for EU Entry/Exit System Chaos as Industry Urges Summer Pause]()
For individual travellers and corporate mobility teams looking to streamline documentation ahead of any trip, VisaHQ can help. The company’s Switzerland portal offers real-time visa requirement checks, step-by-step application support and expedited courier services, reducing the risk of paperwork hiccups that could compound EES-related delays.
Operational fixes—slow and costly. Zurich and Geneva have ordered additional e-gates and are testing pre-enrolment “app lanes”, but hardware deliveries run into 2027 and staffing remains tight in Switzerland’s near-full-employment labour market. Airports want Brussels to authorise a blanket summer derogation so that the system can be phased in gradually, but the Commission so far insists the legal go-live—October 2025 with a six-month soft-opening—cannot be rolled back.
Practical advice.
• Swiss companies should tell non-EU assignees flying in after long weekends to expect multi-hour waits and to factor the delay into roster planning.
• Encourage travellers who have already enrolled to keep their EES receipt handy; repeat crossings are faster.
• Book fully flexible inter-EU connectors until the operational picture stabilises.
• Remind U.S., UK and other visa-exempt staff that EES data will automatically trigger overstay alerts; overstays of even a few days can lead to five-year Schengen bans.
Why it matters for Switzerland. Although the EES is an EU initiative, Switzerland is legally bound to implement it under the Schengen Association Agreement. Zurich, Geneva and Basel airports therefore face the same biometric capture requirements—fingerprints and facial images—for every third-country national who has not yet “enrolled” in the system. Unlike legacy stamp-and-go controls, the first enrolment can take several minutes per person, quickly overwhelming booths that were sized for the pre-EES world. Zurich Airport processed roughly 4.3 million non-Schengen arriving passengers in 2025; repeating that volume under EES without process changes would require either 30–40 per cent more staffed booths or widespread self-service kiosks that are not yet fully certified.
Business-travel impact. Swiss-based corporates rely heavily on transatlantic and long-haul Asian itineraries that originate in Zurich or connect in EU hubs. With EES queues propagating downstream, missed connections mean re-booking fees, duty-of-care headaches and potential breach of “14-day-rule” assignment schedules. Travel managers are already advising executives to add 60–90 minutes buffer when re-entering the Schengen zone. SMEs that time-box customer visits into single-day turn-arounds may simply postpone trips until clarity emerges.
For individual travellers and corporate mobility teams looking to streamline documentation ahead of any trip, VisaHQ can help. The company’s Switzerland portal offers real-time visa requirement checks, step-by-step application support and expedited courier services, reducing the risk of paperwork hiccups that could compound EES-related delays.
Operational fixes—slow and costly. Zurich and Geneva have ordered additional e-gates and are testing pre-enrolment “app lanes”, but hardware deliveries run into 2027 and staffing remains tight in Switzerland’s near-full-employment labour market. Airports want Brussels to authorise a blanket summer derogation so that the system can be phased in gradually, but the Commission so far insists the legal go-live—October 2025 with a six-month soft-opening—cannot be rolled back.
Practical advice.
• Swiss companies should tell non-EU assignees flying in after long weekends to expect multi-hour waits and to factor the delay into roster planning.
• Encourage travellers who have already enrolled to keep their EES receipt handy; repeat crossings are faster.
• Book fully flexible inter-EU connectors until the operational picture stabilises.
• Remind U.S., UK and other visa-exempt staff that EES data will automatically trigger overstay alerts; overstays of even a few days can lead to five-year Schengen bans.
