Prague’s Václav Havel Airport reported its first major bottlenecks of the 2026 holiday season on the morning of 6 July after the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) went fully live at external Schengen borders. Travellers arriving from the United Kingdom, the United States and other non-EU countries described waits of one-to-three hours at the manual passport booths and new self-service kiosks, with some passengers missing onward connections. The EES replaces manual passport stamping with a biometric record of every entry and exit, capturing fingerprints, a facial image, and the time and place of the crossing. Aviation trade groups say that while the long-term security benefits are clear, first-time registration adds several minutes per passenger, multiplying into sizeable queues when multiple wide-body flights land close together. Airports Council International Europe and major airlines have warned that processing times are “well over 50 percent” longer for non-EU travellers at many hubs.
![Biometric border checks cause hour-long queues at Prague Airport as summer rush begins]()
For travellers who prefer to sort out as much paperwork as possible before they even leave home, VisaHQ offers an online concierge service that walks applicants through every step of obtaining the correct visa for the Czech Republic and the wider Schengen area, reducing last-minute surprises at border control. Full details are available at
Prague Airport told Czech media that it has installed 36 EES kiosks and redeployed staff, yet still struggled when morning peaks coincided with technical glitches in the central database. Business-class fast-track lanes were temporarily opened to economy passengers to reduce congestion, and border police used mobile teams to scan documents farther back in the line. Other Schengen gateways such as Lisbon, Rome and Madrid reported similar scenes. For corporate travellers the disruption has immediate cost implications. Travel-management companies are advising firms to build in longer connection times, warn employees about potential re-ticketing fees if a missed flight breaks a through itinerary, and budget for extra hotel nights when late-evening returns cannot be re-accommodated. Logistics managers coordinating pan-European projects say that crew rotations scheduled on tight layovers may need to be replanned until the system stabilises. Experts recommend that visitors who expect to cross the Schengen external border this summer arrive at least three hours before departure, upload airline API data in advance, and have hotel bookings and invitation letters ready in case officers conduct secondary checks. Prague Airport added that non-EU passengers who registered biometrics on an earlier trip should still plan for extra time because random re-enrolments are possible while the database is fine-tuned.
For travellers who prefer to sort out as much paperwork as possible before they even leave home, VisaHQ offers an online concierge service that walks applicants through every step of obtaining the correct visa for the Czech Republic and the wider Schengen area, reducing last-minute surprises at border control. Full details are available at
Prague Airport told Czech media that it has installed 36 EES kiosks and redeployed staff, yet still struggled when morning peaks coincided with technical glitches in the central database. Business-class fast-track lanes were temporarily opened to economy passengers to reduce congestion, and border police used mobile teams to scan documents farther back in the line. Other Schengen gateways such as Lisbon, Rome and Madrid reported similar scenes. For corporate travellers the disruption has immediate cost implications. Travel-management companies are advising firms to build in longer connection times, warn employees about potential re-ticketing fees if a missed flight breaks a through itinerary, and budget for extra hotel nights when late-evening returns cannot be re-accommodated. Logistics managers coordinating pan-European projects say that crew rotations scheduled on tight layovers may need to be replanned until the system stabilises. Experts recommend that visitors who expect to cross the Schengen external border this summer arrive at least three hours before departure, upload airline API data in advance, and have hotel bookings and invitation letters ready in case officers conduct secondary checks. Prague Airport added that non-EU passengers who registered biometrics on an earlier trip should still plan for extra time because random re-enrolments are possible while the database is fine-tuned.
