Prague Airport Experiences Hour-long Queues As Eu’s New Entry-exit System Rolls Out, Causing Major Delays And Disruption For Travelers

Published on October 13, 2025

Prague Airport is facing hour-long queues and important delays arsenic nan EU’s caller Entry-Exit System comes into effect. The system, which requires biometric information postulation from each third-country nationals, has led to issues astatine passport control, arsenic nan registration machines were not operational connected nan first day. This forced passengers to acquisition manual biometric checks, causing a backlog. The delays person caused vexation among travelers arriving from various destinations, pinch authorities scrambling to negociate nan business arsenic nan strategy rolls out.

Czech Republic Launches Full EES Checks connected Day One, Leading to Airport Delays

As nan European Union implements its caller Entry-Exit System (EES), nan Czech Republic has emerged arsenic 1 of nan countries to afloat enforce biometric checks from time one, triggering agelong queues and important delays astatine Prague Airport. The eager move is portion of a gradual rollout crossed nan EU, wherever 3 countries—Czech Republic, Estonia, and Luxembourg—are committed to applying nan strategy successful afloat immediately, including fingerprinting and photographing each “third-country nationals.”

Prague Airport, 1 of nan busiest introduction points successful nan Czech Republic, was poised to use nan caller integer borders strategy to its arrivals from nan very start. However, contempt efforts to instal dozens of separator registration machines astatine Terminal 1 for biometric collection, travelers encountered a bid of complications. Passengers arriving from nan UK and different countries specified arsenic Turkey, Egypt, and nan UAE recovered themselves waiting successful agelong lines owed to delays successful biometric information collection.

Initially, nan strategy was expected to tally smoothly, pinch travelers utilizing self-service kiosks to taxable their fingerprints and facial biometrics up of nan accustomed passport checks. However, arsenic queues grew, separator officials reverted to processing biometric information manually astatine passport power desks instead. This displacement successful process caused disorder and delays, pinch immoderate passengers reporting waits of complete an hour.

For instance, a rider flying to Leeds Bradford observed that each nan self-registration machines were switched disconnected and that biometrics were being taken astatine nan passport power table instead, starring to a backlog of travelers. Those arriving connected flights from London faced waits of up to 90 minutes owed to nan absence of functioning machines, and only aft sizeable delays were definite passport holders allowed to bypass nan main lines utilizing nan EU channel.

Despite these teething issues, nan Czech authorities had planned nan afloat implementation of nan EES, a strategy designed to seizure nan biometric information of third-country nationals—essentially, anyone who is not an EU aliases Schengen Area citizen. The caller system, which is expected to grounds faces and fingerprints, will shop this information connected a cardinal EU database, facilitating much businesslike cross-border movement. This biometric accusation will use not only to those arriving but besides to those departing nan Schengen Area. However, location were reports from passengers that biometric information was not being captured connected departure, arsenic officials stuck to nan accepted manual checks.

The roll-out of nan EES successful Prague is portion of a larger inaugural that began connected October 12, 2025. All Schengen Area personnel states are expected to guarantee their borders are afloat compliant wrong 180 days. As of now, nan strategy is still successful its early stages, pinch aggregate challenges arising. Given that nan Schengen Area sees complete 500 cardinal entries and exits annually crossed 1,800 separator crossings, nan preamble of biometric checks is expected to reshape nan region’s separator guidance processes dramatically.

Industry experts person expressed concerns astir nan imaginable for delays arsenic nan strategy continues to beryllium implemented. Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, warned that nan preamble of nan EES could lead to chaotic scenes astatine airports, particularly during highest recreation times. While he acknowledged that wintertime recreation mightiness easiness nan unit somewhat, he remained skeptical astir a soft modulation successful nan early stages.

Mark Tanzer, CEO of nan recreation relation Abta, besides forecasted delays successful nan coming months. “It’s inevitable that location will beryllium immoderate disruption arsenic nan Schengen Area adapts to this caller system,” he stated. Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of Advantage Travel Partnership, advised travelers to let other clip erstwhile traveling, peculiarly astatine airports wherever bottlenecks whitethorn already beryllium present. She recommended arriving betwixt 3 and 4 hours earlier departure, arsenic nan system’s teething issues could consequence successful further delays.

The preamble of biometric introduction and exit checks marks a important measurement guardant successful nan Schengen Area’s efforts to streamline separator management. By collecting biometric information connected each third-country nationals, nan EU intends to amended information and trim nan administrative load connected separator power agencies. However, arsenic evidenced by nan business astatine Prague Airport, nan afloat implementation of specified a strategy is not without its challenges. While nan Czech Republic’s committedness to a complete rollout connected time 1 is simply a bold move, it besides serves arsenic a reminder of nan complexities progressive successful implementing caller separator information measures crossed an full continent.

As nan strategy becomes much wide adopted, it will apt look further tests astatine airports and separator crossings passim nan EU. In nan meantime, travelers are advised to stay diligent and scheme for imaginable delays, peculiarly astatine nan busiest introduction points for illustration Prague Airport, wherever nan implementation of nan EES is expected to beryllium intimately scrutinized. The rollout of nan Entry-Exit System is portion of a broader European strategy to modernize and digitize separator control, but its occurrence will dangle connected nan velocity astatine which nan strategy tin flooded these first hurdles.