The European Union's new Entry/Exit System has doubled passenger wait times at major airports this summer, with queues reaching two hours during peak periods as border checks for non-EU travellers slow processing across the Schengen area.
Maximum waits at Frankfurt reached 120 minutes in July, up from 60 a year earlier, according to traffic analysis firm Qsensor. Amsterdam saw waits rise from 80 to 120 minutes, while Munich doubled from 31 to 60 minutes. Zurich airport recorded 40-minute departure queues on a recent Saturday.
Several airports have temporarily suspended fingerprint collection during rush hours to ease congestion. Eight EU states and Switzerland have asked the European Commission to extend flexibility measures set to expire in September. The system, which electronically registers entries and exits of third-country nationals, has processed about 160 million movements since launch. Ryanair has called the system flawed and urged moving registration online.