The U.K. Transport Secretary wrote to his EU counterpart on 14 July raising “serious concerns” over long border queues created by the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES). MarketScreener reports that carriers such as Ryanair are already dubbing the rollout a “queue-ageddon”, highlighting delays in popular Schengen gateways including Rome-Fiumicino and Milan-Malpensa. EES became mandatory at all external Schengen crossings in April 2026, requiring non-EU nationals – including British citizens post-Brexit – to provide four fingerprints and a facial image on each entry and exit. While most automated kiosks were tested over the winter, passenger volumes only peaked this month, revealing bottlenecks in airports that handle large numbers of inter-continental arrivals. Italian airport association Assaeroporti says biometric capture now adds up to 90 seconds per passenger; at Fiumicino’s Terminal 3 that translates into an extra 45 minutes when three wide-body flights land together. Airlines fear missed connections and are lobbying ENAC to deploy mobile enrolment teams and to open dedicated fast-track lanes for premium and transfer travellers. Corporate mobility managers should alert U.K. and other third-country assignees to leave additional time at departure and connection points and to ensure passports have at least two blank pages – kiosks reject heavily stamped documents, forcing manual processing. The Transport Secretary has asked Brussels for an operational review before the mid-August holiday surge.
Source: MarketScreener / GOV.UK
