If you’re heading to Spain, Portugal, France, Italy or Greece this summer – whether for a viewing trip or to check on your property – the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) is worth knowing about before you fly. Since coming into full effect in April, it has been causing significant queues at Schengen Area airports, and some passengers have missed their flights entirely as a result.
The EES requires non-EU travellers, including British and American passport holders, to have fingerprints and facial recognition data recorded each time they cross into or out of the Schengen zone. For airports handling thousands of passengers a day, that’s a substantial additional burden on border control.
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What’s been happening at airports
Delays of up to three hours have been reported at several major gateways, including Lisbon, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and Faro. In one widely reported incident, a flight from Milan to Manchester departed with around a third of its expected passengers after more than 120 travellers failed to clear passport control in time – despite having arrived with what would normally have been adequate buffer.
One of the complicating factors is how unpredictable the delays are. Processing times vary depending on airport infrastructure, staffing levels on the day and how many travellers are going through biometric registration for the first time. Unlike security queues, which frequent travellers tend to read fairly well, EES queues are harder to anticipate.
What to do differently this summer
The practical advice is simple, even if it runs against the habits of experienced travellers: treat passport control as your first destination after check-in, not your last.
Arriving three hours before departure – once considered more than generous – has proven insufficient at some airports this season. If you’re travelling with family, or with anyone who may need additional assistance at the border, build in more time still.
It’s also worth checking whether your departure airport offers a pre-registration option for biometric processing before you travel, particularly if you have a connecting flight.
Why this matters for property buyers
Viewing trips, completion trips and handover visits all tend to run to tight schedules, with onward journeys, hotel check-ins and meetings booked around specific flights. A missed departure doesn’t just mean a later arrival – it can mean rearranging appointments, paying rebooking fees and losing a day on the ground.
Summary
In short: allow more time than you think you need at the border this summer, and plan your airport visit accordingly.
