Less than a week after the EU switched on its long-awaited Entry/Exit System (EES), German hub airports are bearing the brunt of teething problems that have seen non-EU passengers queue for up to five hours. According to a report by Deutsche Welle on 11 July, Frankfurt Airport recorded peak waiting times of 280 minutes on Friday evening, while Munich, Berlin BER and Hamburg all reported lines stretching into departure halls as border officers struggled with repeated scanner reboots and slow biometric uploads. EES replaces manual passport stamps with a biometric register of fingerprints and facial images for every third-country national entering or leaving the Schengen Area. Although the technology promises faster repeat crossings in the long term, the initial enrolment takes two-to-three minutes per traveller—untenable when holiday traffic is running at pre-pandemic records.
![New EU Entry/Exit System causes five-hour queues at Frankfurt and Munich airports]()
At this juncture, it can help to have a specialist double-check whether you need any auxiliary documents or visas before you fly. VisaHQ’s Germany portal lets travellers and corporate mobility teams review up-to-date visa requirements, complete electronic travel authorisations and book priority courier services, smoothing the border experience even when airport systems are under strain.
Airlines estimate that German airports need at least 300 additional automated kiosks and 500 extra Bundespolizei officers to cope with summer peaks. Industry bodies Airlines for Europe and the German Travel Association have written to the Federal Interior Ministry urging it to follow France and Spain in temporarily suspending biometric capture during rush periods, reverting to visual border checks to clear bottlenecks. The Interior Ministry says any suspension would need EU approval but confirmed that Frankfurt has already opened a “biometrics-light” fast-track for connecting passengers with less than 90 minutes’ lay-over. For corporate mobility teams the message is clear: build longer connection buffers for assignees arriving from the US, UK, India and other visa-exempt markets, and encourage travellers to pre-register where kiosks are available landside. Organisations relocating staff at short notice should also factor in potential missed train connections from the airport to cities such as Stuttgart and Cologne. The Federal Police expect teething issues to ease once a critical mass of travellers is enrolled—likely by late August. Until then, companies may consider routing urgent staff movements through Zurich, Vienna or Copenhagen, whose smaller volumes have so far kept queues below 45 minutes.
At this juncture, it can help to have a specialist double-check whether you need any auxiliary documents or visas before you fly. VisaHQ’s Germany portal lets travellers and corporate mobility teams review up-to-date visa requirements, complete electronic travel authorisations and book priority courier services, smoothing the border experience even when airport systems are under strain.
Airlines estimate that German airports need at least 300 additional automated kiosks and 500 extra Bundespolizei officers to cope with summer peaks. Industry bodies Airlines for Europe and the German Travel Association have written to the Federal Interior Ministry urging it to follow France and Spain in temporarily suspending biometric capture during rush periods, reverting to visual border checks to clear bottlenecks. The Interior Ministry says any suspension would need EU approval but confirmed that Frankfurt has already opened a “biometrics-light” fast-track for connecting passengers with less than 90 minutes’ lay-over. For corporate mobility teams the message is clear: build longer connection buffers for assignees arriving from the US, UK, India and other visa-exempt markets, and encourage travellers to pre-register where kiosks are available landside. Organisations relocating staff at short notice should also factor in potential missed train connections from the airport to cities such as Stuttgart and Cologne. The Federal Police expect teething issues to ease once a critical mass of travellers is enrolled—likely by late August. Until then, companies may consider routing urgent staff movements through Zurich, Vienna or Copenhagen, whose smaller volumes have so far kept queues below 45 minutes.
