The EU's new Entry Exit System (EES) has been a recurring source of travel disruption this summer, with reports of delays at airports, missed flights and chaos at passport control. The system replaces the manual stamping of passports for visitors entering the Schengen Area, requiring travellers to register biometric details such as fingerprints and a photo upon arrival.
Despite the teething problems, including malfunctioning terminals and some countries postponing implementation during the busy summer period, many British travellers have now encountered EES for the first time on holidays to Spain, France, Greece or Italy.
First encounter at Schiphol
One traveller, Olivia Sheed, faced the system at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the fourth busiest airport in Europe, during one of the Dutch capital's busiest times of the year. She describes what passengers can expect if they are anxious about an upcoming trip.
After getting off the plane, before reaching baggage claim, Sheed found a roped-off section inviting travellers to register for EES. Joining about a dozen other travellers just past 10am, she presented her passport to a scanner. The process involved placing a hand on the scanner for fingerprints and looking up at a camera for a retinal scan.
"And just like that, it was done," Sheed said. She confirmed her details, collected her passport and headed to the passport control hall, bypassing the busy queue for stamped passports and using the EES kiosk without any wait.
Speedy exit and advice
Sheed advises travellers to be careful with the mechanical passport scanner, noting she accidentally held onto her passport the first time. Having budgeted an extra hour and a half for passport security based on horror stories, she found herself with much more time than expected.
On departure, the queue for regular passport control was about eight people deep and presumably taking well over an hour. However, the EES gates were just to the left of the passport control hall, and as a solo traveller, it took less than two minutes to scan her passport and complete the other scans.
"It was so quick that I nearly forgot to snap a picture for this article," Sheed said, noting the sheer size of the crowds for those who could not use the EES systems. She was able to find a comfortable seat and wait for her flight in peace, unlike previous experiences at the same airport. She added that other airports may not have implemented the system as smoothly yet.
