A flight to the UK left with 51 passengers missing, and another departed with nobody on board at all, and it’s all because of one new airport rule

A flight heading to the UK recently departed with 51 passengers still stuck in the queue, and another plane left entirely empty, all because of new digital border control rules causing chaos at European airports. Hundreds of British holidaymakers are getting trapped in queues sometimes lasting up to three hours and missing their flights entirely. As detailed by LADbible, the disruption began almost immediately after the system went live.

The culprit is the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), which became fully operational on Friday, April 10. Designed to speed up passport control and boost security, it requires certain travelers to register their biometric details, including fingerprints and photographs, in dedicated booths when entering the Schengen Area.

These rules apply to non-EU nationals, a category that now includes Brits following the UK’s departure from the EU in 2020. While authorities warned the checks might take “slightly longer,” the reality has been far worse than anticipated, with travelers reporting waits of two to three hours at border control during peak times.

The numbers coming out of Europe’s airports are hard to ignore

Airports Council International Europe (ACI-Europe) has confirmed receiving complaints from “a number of airports and airlines across the Schengen Area.” The organization noted delays were persisting “despite border authorities making extensive use of partial suspension measures, which allow biometrics data not to be captured.”

Passengers are simply missing flights due to prolonged border processing times. ACI-Europe shared stark examples from the system’s opening day: on April 10, a flight to the UK left with 51 passengers who couldn’t make it to the gate. In a separate case, another flight departed with zero passengers at gate closing time, and 90 minutes later, 12 passengers had still not reached the gate. The UK has faced similar friction around biometric data collection in other contexts, including new age verification laws requiring face scans for certain online platforms.

On Sunday, April 12, 122 travelers were stranded in Milan after an easyJet flight to Manchester departed with only 34 passengers on board. Some holidaymakers have also reportedly been left vomiting and passing out in queues while waiting to clear the EES checks. The disruption follows a broader period of elevated travel advisories across multiple destinations, including a CDC travel alert for Bolivia issued earlier this year over a chikungunya outbreak.

ACI-Europe’s Director General Olivier Jankovec stated that “greater flexibility is immediately needed” and called on border control authorities to be allowed to “fully suspend the EES when waiting times become excessive,” not only now but “throughout the peak summer travel season.” He added that while the objectives of EES are supported, strengthening border management “must not come at the expense of operational efficiency or the passenger experience.”

Airlines are now advising passengers to arrive at least three hours before departure and to check in via mobile to reduce processing time at the airport. Jankovec has also urged the EU to grant member states the power to temporarily suspend the system when queues become excessive, ahead of what is expected to be a demanding summer travel season across the Schengen zone.