Nearly a fifth of UK adults have considered changing or avoiding European summer holidays because of long queues caused by the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES). The biometric border scheme requires first-time travellers to provide fingerprints, facial scans and passport details, and its disruption has prompted calls from travel bodies and politicians for urgent intervention or withdrawal.

A Savanta survey of 2,381 adults found 43 per cent were changing plans, considering doing so or feeling more anxious about EU travel; 15 per cent were considering a UK holiday instead, while 48 respondents had cancelled trips. Industry groups say peak border waits can reach five hours, with knock-on effects including missed flights and ferries, and Rome Fiumicino airport reports passport-control processing times have nearly tripled.