Worst EES queues
The Schengen airports where the EU Entry/Exit System has caused the longest border queues — ranked by worst documented wait, with what actually went wrong at each.
See live waits now#1 · Brussels Airport (BRU) Live
Brussels, Belgium
Loss of e-gate access overloaded manual booths; ~600 missed flights Apr 2026; govt called delays "unacceptable" May 10; airport CEO warned of "absolute chaos" for summer; Jun 9 arrivals hit 4h (BrusselsTimes)
June 9, 2026 (4h arrivals) · Brussels EES details →
#2 · Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) Live
Paris, France
Kiosk throughput ~35% below forecast; ~12 dedicated EES lanes; Parafe e-gates reopened as a workaround; T2E pre-enrolment pods now launched
mid-April 2026 (kiosks ~35% below forecast) · Paris EES details →
#3 · Lisbon Airport (LIS) Live
Lisbon, Portugal
Biometric capture suspended Dec 2025; 4h peak queues Apr 2026 (Portugal Post); Portugal can pause capture up to 6 hrs per peak session; eased to ~60-70 min by Jun 2026 (Portugal Post); e-gates planned
Apr 2026 (4h peak; Portugal Post) · Lisbon EES details →
#4 · Geneva Cointrin International Airport (GVA) Live
Geneva, Switzerland
Repeated kiosk/system freezes; worst-hit airport, advises arriving 4 hrs early; biometric flex mode active since May 2
Dec 2025-Feb 2026 (kiosk freezes, worst-hit) · Geneva EES details →
#5 · Vienna International Airport (VIE) Live
Vienna, Austria
Real enrolment runs >2 min/pax; 3-hr peaks caused missed flights on 13-14 Apr; Austria invoked EU flexibility to skip fingerprints during surges; extra kiosks planned mid-July
13-14 April 2026 (3h, missed flights) · Vienna EES details →
#6 · Václav Havel Airport Prague (PRG) Live
Prague, Czechia
System crash during Dec 2025 pilot; offline kiosks at April 10 launch; extra kiosks and police redeployed to Terminal 1; throughput improving gradually
Dec 2025 crash + Apr 2026 offline kiosks · Prague EES details →
#7 · Helsinki Airport (HEL) Live
Helsinki, Finland
Up to 1/3 of 36 kiosks offline at peak plus border-guard shortage; 3-hr queues at Dec 2025 holiday and Apr 2026 launch; flex mode authorized to pause checks during surges
Dec 2025 holiday + Apr 2026 (~1/3 kiosks offline) · Helsinki EES details →
#8 · Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport (FCO) Live
Rome, Italy
Manual-stamping fallback triggers at 45-min queue through 30 Sep 2026; ADR CEO warned Jun 25 EES is "incompatible with peak volumes" — summer suspension risk
April 2026 · Rome EES details →
#9 · Milan Malpensa International Airport (MXP) Live
Ferno (VA), Italy
Manual-stamping fallback triggers at 45-min queue through 30 Sep 2026; >100 pax missed a flight at peak
April 2026 (>100 pax missed a flight) · Ferno (VA) EES details →
#10 · Venice Marco Polo Airport (VCE) Live
Venezia (VE), Italy
Manual-stamping fallback triggers at 45-min queue through 30 Sep 2026
April 2026 · Venezia (VE) EES details →
#11 · Warsaw Chopin Airport (WAW) Live
Warsaw, Poland
3-hr peak queues; hardware reliability patchy; queue marshals deployed
late April 2026 (3h) · Warsaw EES details →
#12 · Kraków John Paul II International Airport (KRK) Live
Balice, Poland
Kiosk malfunctions forced border guards into a phone-photo workaround
late April 2026 (kiosk malfunctions) · Balice EES details →
#13 · Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) Live
Madrid, Spain
Peak biometric suspension authorised; EU activated flex mode May 4; hybrid stamping permitted at peak
April 2026 rollout week · Madrid EES details →
#14 · Barcelona–El Prat Airport (BCN) Live
Barcelona, Spain
Up to 3-hr queues at peak; peak biometric suspension authorised; operators warn of summer gridlock without more e-gates
April 2026 · Barcelona EES details →
#15 · Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) Live
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Up to 3-hr queues; AENA added 10 temporary kiosks + UK-only lanes; peak biometric suspension authorised; flagged summer pressure point
April 2026 (UK-only lanes added) · Palma de Mallorca EES details →
#16 · Athens International Airport (ATH) Live
Athens, Greece
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
June 2026 (~2.5h arrivals) · Athens EES details →
#17 · Frankfurt Airport (FRA) Live
Frankfurt, Germany
Germany activated biometric flex mode (suspension up to 6 hrs at peaks); Fraport redeploying staff to immigration during afternoon Asia-arrival waves
Apr 2026 morning peak (federal police data) · Frankfurt EES details →
#18 · Munich Airport (MUC) Live
Munich, Germany
Germany activated biometric flex mode (suspension up to 6 hrs at peaks); 32,000 EES-wide refusals through May 18 per EU State of Schengen report
April 2026 · Munich EES details →
#19 · Naples International Airport (NAP) Live
Napoli, Italy
Manual-stamping fallback triggers at 45-min queue through 30 Sep 2026
April 2026 · Napoli EES details →
#20 · Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport (AGP) Live
Málaga, Spain
2+ hr queues persist into Jun; flagged summer pressure point alongside Palma and Alicante; UK travel industry calls for urgent action
May 22-23 2026 · Málaga EES details →
#21 · Tenerife Sur Airport (TFS) Live
Tenerife, Spain
Hours-long queues during peak flights
April 2026 · Tenerife EES details →
#22 · Zurich Airport (ZRH) Live
Zurich, Switzerland
Biometric flex mode active since May 2; officers may skip fingerprint capture during peak surges; 8 more self-service booths planned before July holidays
May 2026 · Zurich EES details →
#23 · Copenhagen Airport (CPH) Live
Copenhagen, Denmark
Still 1h+ queues six months after launch; travellers "resigned to it"; summer expected to worsen delays
April 2026 (still 1h+ six months in) · Copenhagen EES details →
#24 · Stockholm Arlanda Airport (ARN) Live
Stockholm, Sweden
No specific incidents logged, but historically slow at peak.
January 2026 morning · Stockholm EES details →
#25 · Francisco de Sá Carneiro Airport (OPO) Live
Porto, Portugal
Portugal can pause biometric capture up to 6 hrs per peak session; queues down to ~30 min by Jun 2026; extra booths planned
June 2026 · Porto EES details →
#26 · Oulu Airport (OUL) Partial
Oulu / Oulunsalo, Finland
No kiosks or e-gates; manual enrolment only, phased flight-by-flight from Jan 2026
#27 · Rovaniemi Airport (RVN) Partial
Rovaniemi, Finland
No kiosks or e-gates; manual enrolment only, phased flight-by-flight from Jan 2026
#28 · Paris-Orly Airport (ORY) Live
Paris (Orly, Val-de-Marne), France
4 dedicated EES lanes
#29 · Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) Live
Marignane, Bouches-du-Rhône, France
1-2 hr queues at peak; staff shortages and system outages; Ryanair named MRS in France EES suspension request
#30 · Nantes Atlantique Airport (NTE) Live
Nantes, France
1-2 hr queues persist; staff shortages and system outages; named by Ryanair in France EES suspension request
#31 · Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport (BUD) Live
Budapest, Hungary
Airport advises extra time critical for EES; identified as particularly vulnerable due to steady non-Schengen arrival flow and limited backlog-recovery time between waves
#32 · Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) Live
Amsterdam, Netherlands
161 kiosks across arrival filters; extra Marechaussee counters and redesigned waiting areas added; morning wave queues persist (Schiphol Jun 2026)
#33 · Faro Airport (FAO) Live
Faro, Portugal
90-min queues persist; Portugal notified EU May 29 of biometric suspension right; up to 6-hr suspensions at peak now authorized for summer
#34 · Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport (OTP) Live
Otopeni, Romania
14 officer-staffed EES control stations
#35 · Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC) Live
Alicante, Spain
Flagged summer pressure point Jun 2026; 1-2 hr queues at peak; kiosk malfunctions force manual fallback; added immigration staff
Peaks are the worst documented queues from operator and press reports. See every airport on the EES tracker, or plan your days with the 90/180 calculator.