British holidaymakers are facing lengthy delays at several European airports this summer as the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES) border checks begin to bite. The digital scheme, which requires non-EU travellers to be fingerprinted and photographed on arrival, is adding significant time to processing at passport control, catching out many Britons unfamiliar with the new procedure during the peak summer getaway period.

Airports across popular holiday destinations have reported queues stretching for hours as staff cope with the additional biometric registration steps required for first-time entries under the system. The changes affect UK travellers specifically because Brexit means they are now treated as third-country nationals when entering the Schengen area, subjecting them to checks that EU citizens do not face, and travel bodies have urged holidaymakers to arrive at airports well ahead of their flights to account for the extra time.