British airports are bracing for a smooth holiday season, but sources confirm the real chaos is unfolding on the other side of the Channel. The European Union's new Entry/Exit System (EES), a biometric border control scheme set to launch in November, has left continental airports in disarray. Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam are reporting queues snaking through terminals, with officials scrambling to enrol non-EU travellers in the fingerprint database.
Documents uncovered by this desk reveal that the European Commission knew of the system's glitches months ago but buried the reports. One source inside a major UK airport operator said: "We've been preparing for this for years.
But the French? They're just hoping it works." The EES requires all third-country nationals, including Britons, to register fingerprints and a photo on arrival.
At peak travel times, this could add 30 minutes per passenger. Yet British airports, which helped pilot the system, claim to have trained extra staff and installed pre-enrolment kiosks. Meanwhile, the EU's own audit found that less than half of member states are ready.
The result is a two-tier travel system: smooth sailing for those flying from Heathrow or Manchester, gridlock for anyone landing in Europe. The irony is not lost on industry insiders. We left the EU to control our borders, but now they're creating the chaos,"
one airline executive muttered off the record. The Department for Transport insists it is ready, but travellers should still pack patience. The real scandal?
The billions spent on a system that, by all accounts, wasn't tested properly. Expect more delays and denials from Brussels as the holiday crush begins.
