New biometric border control systems in Europe are causing multi-hour waits at airports.
Skiers arriving in Geneva reported waiting three hours at passport control, while travelers experienced long delays in Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
The new Entry-Exit System requires non-EU citizens to have their fingerprints and a photograph taken at an automated kiosk when they first enter the EU’s Schengen free-movement zone; the registration lasts three years and will replace ink stamps in passports, but it is creating bottlenecks as millions of people use it for the first time.
Airports warned that during peak travel times, delays could reach six hours.
The system is intended to modernize border management and prevent illegal overstaying, as concerns over European migration levels rise.