{"id":669165,"date":"2026-01-02T14:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-02T14:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/669165\/"},"modified":"2026-01-02T14:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T14:49:13","slug":"major-airport-suspends-disaster-post-brexit-checks-as-britons-face-six-hour-delays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/669165\/","title":{"rendered":"Major airport suspends ‘disaster’ post-Brexit checks as Britons face six-hour delays"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\t\t\t\t\tTravellers report ‘horrific’ queues due to EES checks in Spain, with Portugal postponing the system after severe delays at Lisbon\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

British passengers have been warned their holiday plans could be thrown into disarray when post-Brexit border checks ramp up this month, after Portugal suspended the new measures after weeks of severe delays at Lisbon airport.<\/p>\n

Holidaymakers have already reported \u201chorrific\u201d airport queues of up to six hours as a result of the entry\/exit system (EES)<\/a>, which launched in October.<\/p>\n

The congestion has become so severe that Portugal\u2019s government has suspended EES at Lisbon Airport, following chaotic scenes in the run-up to Christmas, The i Paper can reveal.<\/p>\n

Abta, the UK travel agent trade association, has flagged a \u201cgreater risk\u201d of hold-ups once the biometrics checks on passengers increase from 9 January, with one industry analyst warning the move could be \u201ca disaster\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, the trade body which represents over 600 airports, has demanded an urgent review of EES and flagged regular outages at borders, problems with self\u2011service kiosks, and a lack of border guards at airports.<\/p>\n

Travellers from the UK told The i Paper of recent EES queues of almost two hours at M\u00e1laga Airport, with kiosks for facial and fingerprint scans not working.<\/p>\n

Holidaymakers who travelled to the Spanish airport over Christmas and November raised concerns for passenger safety during peak 2026 holiday periods once the new checks are fully in force for all non-EU travellers.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, the Portuguese government suspended EES computer checks for three months at Humberto Delgado Airport in Lisbon after severe delays. It came after \u201cworsening of constraints in the arrivals area\u201d for passengers from outside the Schengen Area, the Ministry of Internal Administration said.<\/p>\n

One of Europe\u2019s busiest hubs, Lisbon passengers have reported queues of up to six hours without access to water, food or toilets since EES was rolled out.<\/p>\n

The European Commission claimed the decision was not related to any issues with \u201cthe functioning of EES\u201d and that Portugal had indicated the suspension was necessary to \u201caccommodate restructuring work within the airport\u2019s border area\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Minha m\u00e3e, com quase 70 anos, est\u00e1 h\u00e1 6 horas na fila do controle de passaporte do Aeroporto de Lisboa. Sem comida, sem \u00e1gua, sem banheiro, junto com centenas de outros, incluindo idosos e crian\u00e7as.<\/p>\n

Esc\u00e1rnio completo em um aeroporto que se prop\u00f5e a ser um hub para a AL na UE. pic.twitter.com\/IXmf2ywEU4<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Emiliano Abad (@emilianoabad) December 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

EES, which has been phased in since October, is replacing passport stamping for all non-EU citizens, helping Brussels track compliance with its 90-day visa-free travel rule.<\/p>\n

From 9 January, the proportion of non-EU nationals, including British passport holders, that must undergo the new facial and fingerprint scans will climb from one in 10 to 35 per cent.<\/p>\n

By 10 April, 100 per cent of arrivals must submit their biometrics for travel to the Schengen areas.<\/p>\n

Luke Petherbridge, director of public affairs at ABTA, said that given the scale of EES, with 29 countries introducing a new border process for millions of passengers, the travel body was \u201ccautious\u201d about the next phase of the roll-out.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo date, there have been isolated reports of delays but for many ports and airports the system has been implemented smoothly,\u201d he told The i Paper. \u201cHowever, as the numbers increase there is a greater risk of queues and delays.\u201d<\/p>\n

He urged EU countries to stand down the system, or apply contingency measures such as limiting the number of checks to avoid lengthy wait times when larges queues start to build.<\/p>\n

\"JohnA passenger who travelled to M\u00e1laga\u00a0in November described chaotic scenes as passengers queued for EES checks (Photo: John Calladine)<\/p>\n

ACI Europe said border officials were battling a 70 per cent increase in processing times owing to EES, with waiting times of up to three hours at peak periods.<\/p>\n

If issues were not resolved, increasing the number of people checked to 35 per cent of passengers would lead to more congestion and potential \u201cserious safety hazards\u201d, it cautioned.<\/p>\n

In a message to passengers over Christmas, Ryanair warned of longer queues at Spanish passenger control due to EES and blamed delays on Spanish national police.<\/p>\n

Aviation expert Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said pausing the checks at Lisbon could see other European airports follow suit. He said: \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised at all. If the big players like France, Spain, Italy or Germany follow suit, it\u2019s very likely the planned roll-out of EES (would) come to an abrupt halt.\u201d<\/p>\n

The European Commission insisted EES has operated \u201clargely without issues\u201d with no \u201csignificant queues\u201d apart from in limited cases.<\/p>\n

No member state \u201chas reported or confirmed the claim that border-control processing times at airports increased by up to 70 per cent\u201d, the Commission said, adding that concerns about the 35 per cent registration threshold had been \u201cdisproven\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u2018Arguments were breaking out\u2019<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Calladine warned that the full roll-out of EES in 2026 will be a \u2018disaster\u2019 during peak travel periods (Photo: John Calladine)<\/p>\n

John Calladine, 51, from Leeds, experienced \u201chorrific\u201d queues at M\u00e1laga airport due to EES checks when he arrived on 22 November, with passengers, many of them elderly, stuck in queues for at least an hour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey kept us upstairs in a holding area and wouldn\u2019t let us go any further as they were saying the downstairs area of passport control was full and couldn\u2019t take any more passengers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey ended up scrapping the new system and just waved everyone through to stamp their passports as it was taking too long. Arguments were breaking out as they were directing people into different areas and people thought others were queue jumping. It wasn\u2019t a pleasant experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

He fears medical emergencies could be \u201cvery possible\u201d during peak travel periods once EES is fully operational, after witnessing people pushing during the disruption. \u201cIt will be a disaster,\u201d he said, adding the queues were the worst he had seen in 15 years of travelling to M\u00e1laga.<\/p>\n

\u2018They were stopping people to avoid trampling\u2019<\/p>\n

\"\"British holidaymakers arriving at Malaga on 29 December queued for almost two hours (Photo: Rob Debenham)<\/p>\n

Rob Debenham, 59, from London, who travelled to M\u00e1laga from Gatwick on 29 December, queued for about 1hr 40mins due to the new checks \u2013 first at the scanning machines and then at passport control.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe EES [machines] were not working. We stood for a good 20 minutes with the same nine people in front of us, not a single person moved in that time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to the back of a massive queue and stood for an hour and 20 minutes, and in the end, we got to the passport control. The Spanish border police were doing what the electronic machines were meant to be doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there were at least six UK flights arriving within 30 minutes of each other in M\u00e1laga on that morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were stopping people at the top of the ramps that run down to the passport hall, so that they could avoid any trampling or any crowd health and safety issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Rob Debenham said queues at M\u00e1laga\u00a0airport were the worst he has seen there<\/p>\n

He said the queues were the worst he had seen at M\u00e1laga in around 25 trips over the last three years.<\/p>\n

Travellers to Geneva airport, Europe\u2019s busiest ski destination, previously told The i Paper they were stuck in two-hour EES queues.<\/p>\n

At Dover, one of three locations where \u201cjuxtaposed\u201d border control is on UK soil, EES checks for car passengers were postponed in November after guidance from French border officials and have yet to start.<\/p>\n

It is understood the hold-up is due to issues with French border control IT systems.<\/p>\n

It isestimated EES checks at Dover will take up to six times longer than the current system, with LeShuttle at Folkestone also pausing car registrations.<\/p>\n

Before EES launched, aviation economist Oliver Ranson carried out analysis of which airports would be most at risk of collapse when it went live.<\/p>\n

Athens, Bucharest, Milan Malpensa, Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Rome Fiumicino, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Prague were the 10 airports most in danger of gridlock, he found.<\/p>\n

He analysed airport flight patterns to determine which airports would be unable to cope leading to cancelled flights, rather than where only long delays were likely.<\/p>\n

Ranson\u2019s analysis, published in October, remains unchanged, he said, adding the system was beyond airports\u2019 control and was \u201call down to governments\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s not just the system that matters. It\u2019s all the infrastructure around the building which determines what they can and cannot handle.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next pinch point for EES would be the February half-term holidays, he added, with ski destinations as well as city breaks likely to be affected.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019d expect the disruption to be all over Europe, wherever the government and the staff at the airport enforce the rules very strictly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ahmad added: \u201cIts clear there isn\u2019t enough residual redundancy built in where IT failures has meant a return to manual processing, which requires labour.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the cap rises to 35 per cent, the problems are simply going to magnify and there will be yet more chaos for travellers. Going up to 35 per cent has disaster written all over it.\u201d<\/p>\n