Plucky Survivors See Europe: Making an Entrance

A friend sent me a video from a CNN reporter who got stuck in an insanely long line at the airport in Lisbon, which was caused by the new EU entry system that is causing havoc around Europe.  I thought it was worth talking about because, much like the rest of the trip, I have done an insane amount of research into it.

The EU Entry/Exit System uses the acronym EES even though it really should be EUEES, but that’s just me being nitpicky.  It has been in the works for years but came fully online in April and that’s when the problems started.

By the way, this is separate from the new ETIAS system, which stands for European Travel Information Authorization System because they know how to do acronyms right.  This is a new visa requirement system that won’t go online until fall of 2026, so I won’t have to deal with that but if you’re planning a trip to Europe after that, do your own research about it.

Back to the EES… it applies to any non-EU citizen entering the EU for “short-stay” visits (less than 90 days).  When you arrive for the first time at any EU airport, you must go to a kiosk and scan your biometric passport, get a facial scan/photo, and register your fingerprints.  This replaces the old-school stamps that you used to get in your passport by a live human being.

In theory this should only take a couple of minutes, but a combination of the system not being optimized and people being less than technologically savvy have meant that each person is taking longer to get through the process than they anticipated.  Add in the fact that everybody is doing it for the first time and then multiply that times the thousands of people arriving at any given airport at any given time and it has resulted in arrival queues at many major airports in Europe that take hours to get through.

The places having the biggest issues seem to be the airports in Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Lisbon, and Geneva but it is causing delays everywhere.  It’s worth noting that airports in the UK like London’s Heathrow are not affected because they are no longer a part of the EU thanks to Brexit.

Parenthetically, the UK has its own new entry system, the UK ETA, but it is all handled in advance via an app.

Once you have registered upon your first arrival, you don’t need to do it again for three years.  You still need to scan your passport at a kiosk upon arrival, but you don’t need to do the facial scan or fingerprints and, in theory, airports have set up separate lines for people who are already registered.

Note that this only applies to arrivals.  When you depart from an EU airport, you will need to scan your passport at a kiosk if you’re already registered but you don’t need to do all the other steps and these are different kiosks than those for people flying into the airport.

The biggest issue for most travelers has been connecting flights.  Let’s say you are traveling from New York to Athens and have a layover in Frankfurt.  When you arrive in Frankfurt, you need to do the EES registration before you can get on your next flight.  Passengers who have tight connections (less than a couple of hours) have been missing flights because the lines at the EES kiosks are so long.

There is an app that will allow you to pre-register your passport and photo and even though you still have to do the fingerprint step when you arrive, it should speed up the process a little. The problem is that it is only operational at airports in Sweden and Portugal right now.

So, the important question is how will this affect me?  It’s all about me, me, me!

I am flying into Berlin, which has been reporting delays at peak times, but not as bad as at other airports.  My flight arrives first thing in the morning, which is a peak time, so I’m anticipating 1-2 hours to get through the EES system lines and customs.  That’s gonna suck but it’s not going to affect me otherwise since I’m not catching another flight that day.  In fact, since my flight is schedule to arrive at 8am and I can’t check into my hotel until 3pm, getting to the hotel a little later might be a good thing – it increases my odds of a room being ready early.

My next flights will be happening at the end of June and early July, going from Paris to London and back again.  There shouldn’t be any major delays checking in at Paris since I’ll already be registered and, as mentioned above, the kiosks to depart are different than the ones for people arriving.  I still plan on getting there three hours early because that’s who I am.  I’ve learned to accept it, so should you.

As mentioned, London is not a part of the EES and I’ve already pre-registered for the UK ETA, so that shouldn’t be a big deal.

Since I will have done everything in Berlin when I arrive next week, I’ll already be registered for the EES when I fly back to Paris from London.  Theoretically, I should be able to use a separate line from the ones who still need to put in their face and fingerprints, and it should go more quickly.  I’m still planning for at least an hour to get through it.

Finally, when I fly out of Amsterdam in August, it should be fairly easy since again, all I will need to do is scan my passport at dedicated departure kiosks separate from the arrival ones that are causing all the problems.

So, yes, the EES will probably mean I have to stand in some longer lines than I would like, but hopefully it won’t cause me to miss a flight or ruin any other plans.

Hopefully being the operative word there.