New system requires more time for border controls at airports

Entries and exits to and from the Schengen area are recorded by the new so-called Entry/Exit System (EES). All persons who do not have a passport from an EU country, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland are checked.

The system was implemented gradually over a period of months and has been in force throughout the Schengen area since April 10. So far, 90 million people have been registered, as Magnus Brunner, EU Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, told the media on Thursday in Luxembourg after a Schengen Council. That is around two million registrations per week.

38,000 people had been refused entry, 1000 of whom represented a security risk. According to the Austrian, the EES is "incredibly important" for the security of the EU.

Data collection delays entry

As all of Switzerland's neighboring countries are part of the Schengen area, the system is only used in Switzerland at airports and for flights coming from outside the Schengen area. This has been the case in Geneva since October 2025 and in Zurich since November 2025.

"In connection with EES, there have been and may continue to be longer waiting times at border control," a spokeswoman for Zurich Airport told the Keystone-SDA news agency at the beginning of the week. The reason for this is that when third-country nationals without a valid residence permit in Switzerland or another Schengen state enter the country for the first time, a personal dossier is created in accordance with EU guidelines.

Personal details, travel document data and biometric data are recorded. The Zurich cantonal police are responsible for this at Zurich Airport. "The process is correspondingly time-consuming," the airport spokesperson continued.

In general, the system is stable and reliable. In rare cases, however, there are waiting times of one and up to two hours. This is particularly the case when several flights from outside the Schengen area arrive together. It is assumed that the processes will continue to improve with increasing routine.

Skiing vacations caused longer waiting times in Geneva

At Geneva Airport, there were longer waiting times due to high travel volumes in January and February because of the ski vacations. "On the most difficult day, the waiting time was two and a half hours," said an airport spokesperson on request. On such days, over 70,000 passengers use the airport.

Unlike in Zurich, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (BAZG) is responsible for controls in Geneva. In response to an inquiry, the BAZG stated that the EES works well from a global perspective. However, according to a spokeswoman for the BAZG, the system has lengthened inspection times. However, the processes are being continuously optimized.