EU Official Journal adds five French airports to authorised external-border list

The Official Journal of the European Union published an update on 22 July 2026 modifying the list of border-crossing points recognised under Article 2(8) of the Schengen Borders Code. The notice (reference C/2026/3899) adds Cannes-Mandelieu, Metz-Frescaty, Cherbourg Port, Chalon-Champforgeuil and Aix-les-Milles to France’s authorised external-border points, while deleting temporary entries linked to last year’s Olympic overlay airfields. For carriers and business-aviation operators the change is more than administrative. Only at authorised points may third-country nationals complete biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) formalities; aircraft landing elsewhere face costly diversions or fines up to €10,000 per passenger. Cannes-Mandelieu, long popular with corporate jets serving the Côte d’Azur tech cluster, can now handle direct arrivals from the UK, the United States and the Gulf without requiring a first stop at Nice or Marseille for immigration. Travel-management companies should update their booking engines immediately: Global Distribution Systems will incorporate the new IATA-customs status codes from 1 August. Multinationals operating private-flight departments must file revised Schengen APIS templates, and crew should ensure they carry the new border-point codes to avoid confusion during ramp inspections. French Customs (DGDDI) welcomes the move, noting that decentralising EES kiosks to secondary airports will relieve pressure on Paris-area hubs during the busy summer period. The business-aviation lobby EBAA applauded the decision, saying it aligns infrastructure with the mobility needs of Europe’s innovation corridors.