‘Stop pretending EES works,’ airports chief says
Jul 1, 2026
Category: Border and Security EES EU News
The head of Europe’s airports trade body has told politicians to stop claiming that the European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is running smoothly, warning that the new border regime is causing hours-long queues and could collapse during the summer travel peak.
Stefan Schulte, president of ACI Europe, made the comments at the body’s 36th Annual Congress in Prague on 23 June. He is also president and chief executive of Fraport, which owns Frankfurt Airport.
“Stop pretending… that EES is working just fine. It is not,” Schulte said at the event. He described the system as the issue keeping him and other airport bosses awake at night.
The pushback clashes directly with the EU’s claims of a successful rollout just ahead of peak travel weeks.
Queues, missed flights, a plea to pause
EES requires travellers from outside the EU and the wider European Economic Area to register biometric data when entering most European countries. Facial scans and fingerprints are logged and checked again each time a person crosses the Schengen zone’s borders.
Schulte said that passengers were queuing for hours at peak times. He added that he did not know how airports would cope with the expected increase in traffic in the coming weeks.
The warning follows recent disruptions, including a Ryanair flight leaving Athens for London Luton this month without dozens of its passengers.
Ryanair blamed border delays. The airport cited “additional processing requirements,” though it neither directly named EES nor provided any details.
In April, passengers flying from Milan Bergamo and Milan Linate to Manchester also missed their flights due to problems at passport control. Wizz Air has urged British holidaymakers to arrive three hours before departure due to queues.
System performance is mixed, running smoothly in some countries but triggering significant delays in others.
Schulte wants border authorities to be handed more control. He called for “full flexibility for border control authorities to suspend the EES whenever needed,” along with a rethink of the underlying processes.
He based the demand on the traveller experience. “This is about showing respect and decency for those who chose to travel to the EU, and safeguarding our reputation as a welcoming and efficient destination,” he stated.
A suspension switch out of airports’ hands
A pause mechanism already exists, but its limits are tight. The European Commission is allowing EES to be suspended in some circumstances until September.
The catch, according to Schulte, is who holds the switch. Individual governments must make the call to suspend the system, not airports, and queues grow while those decisions are pending.
He also questioned the September cut-off. The summer peak lasts well beyond early September, he noted, and after that, there is a risk of the “complete collapse of the system.”
Brussels rejects alarm
The Commission, which oversees EES, offers a sharply different account. An EU spokesperson said that the system was working well at almost all border crossing points.
The spokesperson added that exceptional situations were being addressed using the flexibilities and fallback procedures set out in EU law. Proper implementation on the ground, they argued, is up to member states.
That leaves two competing versions of the same summer. The airport lobby warns of chaos and possible collapse, while the Commission casts the system as broadly functional.
Dover stuck on standby
The strain is visible at the Port of Dover, where a new £40m car-passenger processing facility built on reclaimed land may sit idle through the holidays.
The site has 84 self-service kiosks for fingerprinting and photographing, with space for 600 cars. It is finished, but it cannot open until French authorities switch on the kiosks, and there is no set date.
The kiosks fall under the French Police Aux Frontières. Port chief executive Doug Bannister said that the latest indications were that the facility “most probably” would not be available for the summer season, with “no certain outlook” for activation.
Bannister insisted that the port had done its part. The team had done “absolutely everything” it could to prepare, he stated, and the EU was “so impressed” it is studying the Dover site as a model for other land borders.
Coach passengers at Dover have already been registering biometric data through a similar process since October 2025. Car-passenger data is not yet being collected, although a digital profile must be created for every non-EU traveller.
Pressure has already surfaced, with the process temporarily suspended during the late May bank holiday queues.
Eurotunnel’s kiosks at Folkestone are also currently offline. The port said that it is working with UK and French authorities on an interim arrangement to keep the summer moving if the new facility stays shut.
From passport stamps to fingerprints
EES was introduced in stages. It launched progressively from 12 October 2025 and reached full operation in spring 2026, with non-EU travellers required to register from 10 April.
In a broader pitch at the congress, Schulte called for a competitive EU Aviation Strategy covering slot-regulation reform, airport investment, regional connectivity, innovation, and decarbonisation.
The border row, though, dominated the day. It is the part of his message with the most immediate stakes for travellers this summer.
A standoff heading into peak season
This summer will settle the argument: if queues ease, Brussels is vindicated; if they spiral, Schulte’s ignored warning will haunt the industry.
But time is against them. The EU’s pause window shuts in September—before the travel peak ends—and the power to halt the system lies with governments, not the helpless airports.
Dover’s empty facility encapsulates the crisis. Finished and waiting indefinitely on a French decision, it represents the entire rollout in miniature: ready on paper, stuck in practice, just as peak season hits.