European airport chaos as Brits are caught up in hours-long queues spilling into carparks as summer getaway is hit by EU border check changes

Britons have been caught in hours-long queues at airports across Europe as thousands tried to jet off for their summer holidays.  

New rules at border control were introduced earlier this year which have sparked chaos for holidaymakers from countries which are not a part of the European Union. 

The controversial Entry-Exit System (EES) requires passengers to provide a fingerprint and facial image at the airport, but this has led to enormous delays which have caused some jetsetters to miss their flights. 

At Corfu Airport today, a huge queue of disgruntled fliers could be seen snaking onto a pavement outside the airport in shocking footage shared to social media. 

It showed one woman fanning herself to fight off sweltering heats, before cutting to reveal the scene inside the airport, where queues were reduced to a total standstill. 

The footage was shared by a passenger who wrote: ‘Still queuing outside Corfu Airport with just over an hour to go til [sic] my flight sets off.’ 

Meanwhile a video taken at Faro Airport in Portugal yesterday morning showed a huge queue of fuming fliers had formed ahead of passport control. 

The clip was shared with the caption: ‘If you are travelling today, be prepared.’ 

Footage taken from Corfu Airport and shared to social media showed a long line of disgruntled flyers waiting on the pavement outside the airport

In a video taken in Faro Airport in Portugal yesterday morning, a vast queue had formed ahead of passport control

Over in Montenegro’s Tivat Airport, large lines were seen outside the travel hub, while the inside saw a huge mass of people waiting to check their bags in. 

The caption for the video read: ‘Tivat Airport is not for the weak…’

And at Greece’s Kos Airport there were scenes of chaos as countless people were trying to get on their planes home.  

A woman shared her experience on TikTok, highlighting a massive queue through duty free.  

Showing the time on her watch, which read 1.04pm, she wrote: ‘We’d already been in the queue from 12.30.’

She then showed a clip of more dense queues, before cutting to a second shot of her watch, which this time read 1.55pm, adding: ‘We got through just after 2pm.’

Earlier this week, Ivan Bassato – the head of aviation at Rome’s Fiumicino airport – told the BBC that the EU’s new system had driven up the average time it takes for Britons to get through airport security from seven to 20 minutes. 

He said: ‘We are not at the point where you have the same quality of the process [as] before the EES.’

Over in Montenegro’s Tivat Airport, large lines were seen outside the travel hub

At Greece’s Kos Airport there were scenes of chaos as countless people were trying to get on their planes home

He added that his airport has found it impractical to have large numbers of passengers using the self-service kiosks, despite their £10.2million cost. 

Portugal’s Faro Airport added that the technology driving the EES suffered from bugs, though insisted that any queues would quickly go down. 

Superintendent Pedro Oliveira, who is in charge of border control at Faro airport, said: ‘Sometimes what used to be a 10-minute queue… takes over 30 minutes.’

The chaos which ensued across Europe on Wednesday comes just days after passengers were advised they need to arrive at airports four hours before take-off. 

Anton Radchenko, aviation expert and founder at AirAdvisor, advised this week: ‘Arriving four hours early is not a sensible blanket rule for every flight, but at some European airports this summer it is no longer a ridiculous precaution.

‘The greater risk is on the flight home, when British passengers must pass through the new exit checks at the European airport before reaching their gate.

‘At airports where serious queues have already been reported, or where several UK-bound flights depart close together, allowing three to four hours may be prudent.’

Paul Charles, however, a founder at PC Agency, described that idea as ‘madness’. 

He told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s madness to suggest four-hour check-ins. Firstly, many airlines don’t open their check-in desks that early, especially for early morning flights. So passengers would be hanging around at the airport for no reason.

It comes after footage taken at Faro Airport in Portugal earlier this week showed hoards of disgruntled travellers packed in to enormous lines at border control 

Meanwhile one British passenger posted footage of the chaos at Rome Airport on Monday

‘Secondly, if every long-haul passenger arrived four hours early, then the airports would have nowhere to put so many passengers. They would end up queueing outside terminals, not ideal if there is bad or hot weather.

‘It would be much better to put resources into more efficient processing so that two-hour check-in remains the norm.’ 

Wizz Air boss Yvonne Moynihan told Brits they should allow more time than usual ahead of their flights, as well as several hours for connections, bring water with them and charge their phones.

Ms Moynihan said her airline is advising British travellers to allow an extra hour on top of the already-advised arrival time of two hours early.

She told the BBC that while many places have ‘seamless’ travel, there have been lengthy delays around popular holiday hotspots.

‘When you land in the destination airport, there might be queues, so you should bring a portable charger or water,’ she said.

The time it takes Britons to clear passport control has tripled at some European airports since the introduction of the EES, it has recently emerged – leading to the new early arrival guidance.

It comes after airline passengers were left vomiting and passing out earlier this year after becoming stranded in Milan amid border control chaos.

Around 100 EasyJet customers were abandoned at Milan Linate Airport, Italy, while waiting to board a flight to Manchester on April 12, with three-hour queues plaguing travellers as the new EU border rules came into force.

The airline said the situation was ‘outside of our control’ and issues with the EU’s new EES had caused the delays, adding that the hold-ups were ‘unacceptable’.

The Daily Mail understands EasyJet delayed the Milan Linate flight by 52 minutes to allow customers extra time, but with the crew approaching the end of their safety-regulated working hours, the flight was forced to depart half empty.

It’s not the only time passengers have missed a flight as a result of chaotic airport queues.

In another incident, British airline passengers were recently left behind in Milan after their flight departed without them as a result of EES delays. 

A Ryanair flight from Milan Bergamo to Manchester took off on April 16 without some of its passengers.

Adam Hassanjee, 18, from Bolton – who was one of those stranded at the airport – told BBC News: ‘We were waiting for an hour-and-a-half and weren’t moving.

‘Then we see the plane leave and got told we have to go and book our own flight back.’

Reports suggest around 30 people were left stranded, although Ryanair did not confirm exact numbers.

The airline previously identified a number of EES hotspots at which passengers have experience problems. 

They included Lisbon, Tenerife South, Madrid, Lanzarote, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt Hahn, Krakow and Budapest – all popular destinations for UK families travelling abroad during the peak summer holiday season.