New EU border checks: queues at French airports, industry presses for relief

Paris – 08.07.2026: At several major airports in France, waiting times at passport controls have increased significantly since the full deployment of the European Entry/Exit System (EES). Industry associations such as ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe report bottlenecks at peak times, long queues and missed connections. In some cases, waiting times of up to five hours were reported, which led to noticeable operational disruptions especially at the hubs Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle and Orly.

With the EES, the EU replaces the hand-stamped entry and exit stamps for third-country nationals with a digital recording of entries and exits including biometric data such as a facial image and fingerprints. The European Commission points to increased security and faster processes, but concedes that implementation in some member states is rocky and requires additional time for staff recruitment, training and equipment procurement. The main impact is on control lanes where biometric data must be captured for the first time — a step that takes more time than subsequent passages.

In France, airport operators and several airlines are pressing for short-term relief during the main travel season. Measures mentioned include additional control lanes, more border police personnel, mobile registration stations and improved flow management between automated and manned counters. The associations also call for close, day-to-day coordination between airports, airlines, ground handlers and the Police aux frontières, to identify peak loads early and adjust boarding processes.

The Ministry of the Interior and the Direction nationale de la police aux frontières emphasize the security benefits of the system and point to measures already underway. These include special deployments to increase capacity, reallocating additional lanes at peak times and technical upgrades at heavily frequented sites. According to the authorities, temporary process adjustments should help speed up initial registrations without lowering security standards. The responsible Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez is quoted in media reports as saying the administration is working with the airports on short-term improvements.

Economically, the industry fears reputational damage for French aviation and tourism: longer processing times could prompt travelers to choose alternative routes or other destinations. ACI Europe and Airlines for Europe have therefore asked the European Commission for temporary relaxations or technical fixes. Options under discussion include additional funding for control equipment, pragmatic transitional rules for frequent travelers from third countries and clear information campaigns so passengers know in advance which documents and procedures are required.

In the short term, the decisive factor is whether increases in staff and additional lanes will noticeably reduce the longest queues. In the medium term, it will become clear whether the promised efficiency gains materialize once initial registrations are more widely completed and the technology runs stably. Until then, airports and airlines are calling for reliable time windows for border checks to more robustly manage rotations, crew deployment and gate planning.