British holidaymakers face long queues and delays at European airports due to the new digital Entry/Exit System (EES), which requires biometric data registration for most short-term visitors from outside the EU and European Economic Area. Wizz Air boss Yvonne Moynihan advised travellers to arrive three hours before their homeward flight, warning of queues up to three-and-a-half hours at hotspots like Ibiza.. The system,meant to track non-EU visitors, has prompted several countries to temporarily ssupend or waive the rules.

Three-hour queues at Ibiza trigger emergency advice

The Airports Council International reported that delays "regularly reach up to two hours at peak traffic times," with some airports seeing queues stretch to three-and-a-half hours, according to the source. moynihan urged passengers to bring water and charge phones, and allow several hours for connections. The advice marks a sharp escalation from standard two-hour arrival recommendations, reflecting the severity of the border bottleneck.

The EES rollout is the latest chapter in post-Brexit travel friction. With the UK outside the Schengen zone, every non-EU visitor must now register fingerprints and facial scans—a process designed for security but executed with little stress-testing for peak holiday travel, according to industry experts cited in the source.

Greece and Portugal suspend EES rules as summer looms

Greece has already dropped the new Entry/Exit System rules until September for UK holidaymakers, the report states. Portugal is waving passengers through when queues grow too large, and along with Italy is expected to follow Greece before the May half-term, allowing entry on a simple passport stamp. French officials in Dover also paused EES checks as thousands of Brits crossed the Channel over the bank holiday weekend, according to the article .

Michael O'Leary's Brexit blame and the EU's defense

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary accused the EU of punishing British holidaymakers over Brexit with the new checks, calling the rollout a "shambles" and citing "significant disruption" since the system first appeared . the European Commission, however, insists the system works well at "almost all border crossing points" and that individual states must ensure efficient operation. It has allowed biometric registration to be suspended at specific border points for limited times until September under exceptional circumstances.

What the EES app offers—and its limits

The Association of British Travel Agents has advised tourists to use the EES app to register biometric data in advance, which could theoretically bypass some queues. Yet the app's effectiveness is unproven in mass deployment, and it does not eliminate the need for manual checks at many ports. With Portugal announcing 360 additional border officers from July and Moynihan predicting conditions will worsen over the summer, the digital fix may offer only marginal relief.

What remains unclear is whether more countries will suspend the rules before the summer peak, and whether the European Commission will hold firm. The source also did not address how long-term solutions—such as automated kiosks or expanded staff—might be deployed beyond Portugal's announced 360 additional officers.