Britons travelling to the EU have been dealing with delays at airports because of the introduction of the European Union’s new Entry and Exit System (EES)
The brand new EES system may trigger delays in some European international locations (Picture: Getty)
Whereas the Center East disaster and tensions within the Strait of Hormuz have dominated the headlines, largely because of their affect on oil costs and gasoline provides, there’s one more reason why many individuals within the UK have been rising more and more anxious.
Past worries over potential jet gasoline shortages disrupting vacation plans, there’s a further concern to cope with. Although completely totally different in nature, the rollout of the European Union’s new Entry and Exit System (EES) has been inflicting appreciable disruption at airports.
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The brand new system, being carried out throughout the EU, has altered necessities for British travellers getting into the Schengen space. Below the scheme, holidaymakers could also be required to register their biometric information, together with fingerprints and {a photograph}, upon arrival.
Because the EES was launched, one important situation has emerged: prolonged delays, with travellers reporting queues of as much as three hours throughout peak durations.
The i reviews that Airports Council Worldwide Europe has warned that airports in international locations reminiscent of Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany, France and Spain have been “particularly impacted”, leaving passengers more and more apprehensive about lacking their flights.
There are issues about flight delays and disruption (Picture: Getty)
The BBC reported that some passengers had been unable to make their flight from Milan Bergamo to Manchester because of delays at passport management, an incident blamed on the brand new EES system. In response to the delays, sure international locations have taken issues into their very own palms, with Greece asserting that British nationals can be exempt from biometric registration, reviews the Mirror.
In a press release launched on April 10, the Embassy of Greece in London mentioned: “We want to inform you that, inside the framework of the implementation of the brand new Entry/Exit System (ESS) as of April tenth 2026, British passport holders are excluded from biometric registration at Greek border crossing factors.”
Chatting with the Unbiased in regards to the matter, the director of the Greek Nationwide Tourism Organisation within the UK, Eleni Skarveli, mentioned the exemption had been put in place to make sure “a smoother and extra environment friendly arrival expertise in Greece”.
Greece has made Britons exempt from the EES system (Picture: Getty)
She added: “Virtually, because of this the entry course of in place earlier than the implementation of the EES will stay unchanged.”
Whereas Greece could have diverged from the European Union’s method to the EES system, Britons travelling to the nation should still harbour issues that their vacation plans might be derailed by a jet gasoline scarcity.
Earlier this week, aviation professional John Gradek cautioned that “all of Europe goes to be affected by this scarcity of aviation gasoline”, led to by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, via which 20 p.c of world oil passes.
Mr Gradek advised Canadian community CTV: “I believe it’s going to worsen earlier than it will get any higher. You’ll have short-haul flights being cancelled, long-haul flights can be rationed for gasoline. So it’s going to be a little bit little bit of chaos this summer time within the EU.
“I believe that in case you are planning journeys into Europe — and it doesn’t actually matter the place — I believe all of Europe goes to be affected by this scarcity of aviation gasoline. You’re going to be in a scenario the place you must ensure you have a plan B and a plan C.”
But not all people shares Mr Gradek’s gloomy outlook. Vacation professional for On The Seashore, Rob Brooks, argued that flights would solely be cancelled if routes turned too pricey to function, somewhat than because of gasoline shortages, as many airways buy gasoline upfront.
He advised the Specific: “Sure, some flights are being cancelled. Nevertheless it’s not as a result of planes cannot fly, or locations are unsafe. It is as a result of, in some circumstances, it is change into too costly to fly sure routes for airways.
“When gasoline costs spike like this, airways have a selection: they’ll both run the flight and lose cash, or cancel it. Sometimes, they select to cancel it.
“Sure, gasoline costs are rising proper now. Nevertheless, a whole lot of airways are protected against that, particularly for summer time 2026 at the least. Airways like Ryanair and easyJet are well-known for hedging a big portion of their gasoline early, so they are not abruptly scrambling or cancelling massive numbers of flights in a single day.”
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