# EES in Greece - Airport Status & Queue Guide | EESQueue

> EU Entry/Exit System status for Greece: which airports have EES live, kiosk counts, first-entry queue estimates and current known issues for non-EU travellers.

Source: https://eesqueue.com/greece-ees-guide

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# EES in Greece — airport status & traveller guide

Greece has been in the Schengen Area since 2000-03-26. The EU Entry/Exit System is live at its external borders, registering non-EU travellers biometrically on first entry.

EES is live at 9 Greece airports tracked here. 4 have reported significant EES queues — the worst at Athens (up to 2.5h on record).

## EES airports in Greece

| Airport | EES status | Kiosks | First-entry est. |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Athens International Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/athens-airport) ATH | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Chania International Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/chania-international-airport) CHQ | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Corfu Ioannis Kapodistrias International Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/corfu-ioannis-kapodistrias-international-airport) CFU | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Diagoras Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/diagoras-airport) RHO | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Heraklion International Nikos Kazantzakis Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/heraklion-international-nikos-kazantzakis-airport) HER | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Kos Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/kos-airport) KGS | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Mykonos Island National Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/mykonos-island-national-airport) JMK | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Santorini Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/santorini-airport) JTR | Live | — | ~5 min |
| [Thessaloniki Macedonia International Airport](https://eesqueue.com/airport/thessaloniki-macedonia-international-airport) SKG | Partial | — | ~5 min |

## Current known issues

**Athens International Airport (ATH):** 20+ Ryanair pax missed Jun 18 LTN flight due to departure passport mega-queue; ~2.5h arrival queues persist; Greece flex mode: biometric capture pauseable up to 6 hrs; named by Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary among ~15 "blackspot" airports still seeing 2-3hr EES queues, per Q1 earnings comments reported 24 Jul 2026

**Corfu Ioannis Kapodistrias International Airport (CFU):** A bank of ~8 EES kiosks seen entirely out of order (18 Apr 2026 traveler report); Mar 2026 remote kiosks not working, manual biometrics at booths, "very slow"; system reportedly crashed late May 2026, holding travelers 30-40min; also named in Fraport Greece CEO's Jul 2026 overhaul call

**Diagoras Airport (RHO):** Traveler reports describe registration kiosks switched off, staff manually took biometrics at passport booths instead; queues built rapidly when multiple UK flights landed close together (~60min per one report); Fraport Greece CEO (FT interview, 10 Jul 2026) called the system "unpleasant... even dangerous" at Rhodes, Corfu, Mykonos, and Crete airports, called for overhaul

🛂 **Flex mode:** Greece has activated "flex mode": officers may revert to faster manual passport stamping when queues get long. A stamp issued under flex mode is a valid entry record.

Visiting more than one Schengen country? Your 90-day allowance is shared across all of them. Track it with the [90/180 calculator](https://eesqueue.com/schengen-calculator).

**Live queues:** see current first-entry and exit waits at Greece's airports on our [live EES wait times](https://eesqueue.com/ees-wait-times) page.

## EES essentials

### Who does EES apply to?

EES applies to non-EU nationals travelling to the Schengen Area for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period. That includes visa-exempt nationalities (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and others) as well as short-stay Schengen visa holders.

### Who is exempt from EES?

EU, EEA (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) and Swiss citizens are exempt. Also exempt: holders of long-stay (national) visas, holders of EU residence permits, diplomats and service-passport holders on official travel, NATO SOFA-status personnel, stateless persons with refugee travel documents, and holders of local border traffic permits.

### How long does first-entry EES registration take?

Typically 3 to 7 minutes per traveler on first entry, depending on the airport, kiosk availability, and language selection. Families and groups should expect longer total times. Airports with pre-registration apps (Finland, Netherlands, some French terminals) can shorten this to under 2 minutes.

### Will I still get a passport stamp?

Usually no. From 10 April 2026, passport stamping was discontinued as the default across the Schengen Area and entries are recorded digitally in EES. However, several countries - including Italy (until 30 September 2026), Belgium, Germany, France, Greece and Switzerland - have activated a formal "flex mode" that allows border police to revert to manual passport stamping whenever queues exceed set thresholds (e.g. 45 minutes in Italy, 25 minutes in Belgium). Stamps issued under flex mode are valid entry records.

### Does EES apply at land borders?

Yes. EES applies at every external Schengen land border, including road crossings from the UK (Dover/Calais and the Eurotunnel), Turkey into Greece and Bulgaria, Moldova into Romania, and non-Schengen Balkan routes into Croatia and Slovenia. Expect longer queues at road crossings during the initial months.