Paris airports call for summer suspension of EES rollout

Aéroports de Paris, operator of Paris Orly and Charles-de-Gaulle airports, says ‘chronic border control understaffing’ is a recipe for long wait times at airports this summer.

It also says ‘unresolved technology issues’ will have an impact.

The EES system is being implemented in phases before the upcoming full rollout.

Non-EU citizens need to register their biometric data at border point kiosks.

These include travellers from the UK and US.

The Airport Council International Europe says the phased rollout of the system led to waiting times of up to three hours at some airports.

In late 2025, Lisbon Airport suspended EES processing over ‘serious deficiencies’ in staffing.

All airports are scheduled to have the EES technology implemented and working at all border crossings by 10 April 2026.

Still, EU countries are able to suspend full EES operations where necessary.

“Rolling out such a large-scale system is a complex task,” European Commission spokesperson Markus Lammert recently said.

“By extending the flexibility for the summer, we give member states the tools necessary to manage potential problems.”

Aéroports de Paris wants the full rollout suspended until after the peak summer travel season.

Scaling up time consuming border checks before September is ‘extremely risky’, the airport operator’s Deputy CEO Justine Coutard said.

She added that the two Paris airports have suffered difficulties processing traveller data even during limited EES trials.

“We remain very much in favour of a gradual approach. We would not be opposed to implementation being postponed until after the summer,” she said.