After years of technical preparation, policy debate and pandemic-driven delays, the Entry/Exit System (EES) – which aims to modernise the management of the EU’s external borders, attempt to drive down identity fraud and gradually improve the experience for travellers – is expected to go live across Europe by the end of 2025.
Systems such as EES, the US ESTA and the UK/Canada ETA illustrate a wider move towards data-driven border management. For third-country nationals entering or exiting the Schengen Area – the 29 EU countries that have abolished shared borders – this will mean an entirely new arrival experience. Biometric checks, digital registration and automation will replace the traditional passport stamp. Though the goal is clear – stronger borders and smoother flows – the execution on the ground, particularly in airports, reveals a web of complex operational challenges for airports, airlines and operators.
The ripple effect across the terminal
As with any new implementation, it’s likely that the introduction of EES will mean a few teething problems – longer waiting times, confusion and even missed connections or delayed baggage collection by passengers. And things won’t be plain sailing for airports – EES will involve the introduction of new infrastructure, like biometric kiosks, enrolment zones and scanners, into terminals that are already operating at or near capacity.
Of course, this leads to a new layer of operational tension: more processes, less room. And with more people concentrated in fewer areas, this could create fire safety risks, the straining of crowd control protocols and will test the limits of passenger comfort and patience.
The passenger’s experience of EES, after all, will be an integral part of their journey – they won’t just view it as a border checkpoint issue. And their experience will have an impact on their customer satisfaction levels and ultimately how they feel towards the airports and airlines they are travelling with.
As EES changes where, when and how people move through the terminal, it also changes how operations need to think about passenger flow. This includes understanding how processing times affect baggage collection, gate availability and terminal congestion. If passengers get stuck in long lines at border control, their bags sit uncollected, potentially congesting the baggage reclaim areas during peak hours. This could have security implications or cause overflows in baggage handling systems.
Planes may also have to wait at gates longer because travellers haven’t cleared immigration, which can have a knock-on effect on other flights. EES changes passenger flow, requiring visibility into thresholds for safe occupancy, especially in fire-coded zones or constrained processing areas. All of these factors together could conspire to cause crowding and delays throughout the terminal.
The new imperative: whole-system collaboration
Given the systemic nature of the change, airports are finding value in closer alignment across all parts of their operations. EES doesn’t operate in isolation – it intersects with airline schedules, baggage handling times, terminal occupancy and gate operations. That intersection calls for strong collaboration between airport operators, border control authorities, airlines, ground handlers, IT vendors and even safety officers.
So what are the key factors airports and airlines need to focus on to ensure this whole system collaboration?
- Joint operational planning: airports involve many independent actors – border control, airlines, ground handlers, security and airport operators – each with their own systems, priorities and workflows. Coordinating arrival flows and predicting how crowds will move means breaking down silos and cooperating closely, which can be organisationally and technically challenging.
- Shared situational awareness: creating accurate, real-time dashboards that reflect passenger flow, queue lengths and terminal capacity requires merging data from various sources, including airlines, biometric systems, cameras and sensors, and interpreting it quickly enough to act on. Many systems aren’t interoperable, and legacy tech often can’t support that kind of dynamic input/output.
- Contingency protocols: rerouting passengers between terminals or checkpoints on the fly sounds simple, but in reality, it demands quick decision-making, clear signage, trained staff and real-time updates across systems (airlines, immigration, transport). That doesn’t happen overnight and without careful design, these interventions can confuse passengers or cause bottlenecks elsewhere.
- Communication loops: keeping passengers informed from gate to baggage to ground transport means synchronising messages across multiple platforms, including flight apps, airport screens, announcements and even staff instructions. But often these systems don’t ‘talk’ to each other, leading to mixed messages or gaps that leave travellers frustrated and lost.
In short, it’s not just about technology – it’s about education, it’s about communication, and it’s about aligning people, processes and systems in a way that can flex under pressure. These efforts support a more agile, system-wide response, especially during peak travel periods.
Passenger experience: a shared responsibility
There is also an opportunity to learn from others. The rollout of the UK’s ETA (electronic travel authorisation) program has demonstrated that joint planning and proactive information sharing can spell the difference between confusion and confidence for both passengers and operational teams.
Experiences with the UK’s ETA and other global pre-clearance systems highlight a critical lesson: passengers must receive clear information before they travel, not just upon arrival. While signage and wayfinding are essential, airports and airlines are now focusing further upstream, integrating EES information into booking processes, airline communications, mobile apps and pre-departure alerts.
Multilingual staff, clear digital touchpoints and transparent messaging across the terminal all contribute to a smoother journey. Embarking on communication initiatives prior to passengers’ arrival, making passengers aware of the new procedures and helping them evaluate their arrival times accordingly. When travellers arrive informed and prepared, queue times shorten, staff interventions decrease, and overall throughput improves.
When every actor in the travel chain contributes to timely and accurate information sharing, passengers are better prepared, move through processes quicker and feel more confident during their journey. Beyond improving the passenger journey, it also relieves pressure across the entire system – from shorter border queues to faster baggage retrieval – creating a more efficient and resilient airport environment for everyone.
But reaching this goal requires strong collaboration and continued shared focus across the entire travel ecosystem.
Reframing the challenge as a strategic opportunity
While EES introduces undeniable complexity, it also creates a unique opportunity for operational innovation. The shift invites airports to rethink their roles, from being a service provider to being the orchestrator of the entire border journey. This kind of transition can help elevate the airport’s role within the broader travel ecosystem.
Handled strategically, this transition will have a number of benefits. It will undeniably strengthen relationships between airports, airlines, border agencies and ground handlers. It will also improve operational visibility through shared data and collaborative tools. And it will strengthen commercial performance by strategically guiding waiting passengers towards retail outlets and premium lounges, turning their waiting time into potential revenue opportunities. Ultimately, rising to the EES challenge gives airports and airlines a chance to elevate their reputations as a forward-thinking, traveller-centric hub.
What starts out as a compliance challenge can become a differentiator if looked at through the right lens and if the response is thoughtful, coordinated and future-facing.
Leading through transformation
The introduction of EES is more than a technical change – it’s a shift that touches every part of airport operations, requiring coordination between multiple stakeholders, real-time data insights and operational processes that can adapt quickly to new pressures. And if airports and airlines rise to the EES challenge in the right way, they can leverage it to transform their operational performance.
How Valcon can help turn the EES challenge into an opportunity
At Valcon, we help our airport and aviation clients manage that complexity. This can include mapping operational impact across the terminal, facilitating cross-stakeholder planning and developing the data infrastructure needed for real-time visibility and decision-making. We help design and test scenarios, define contingency protocols, and align existing systems to meet new requirements. Our approach is grounded in experience across complex, multi-party environments. We work closely with teams on the ground to translate policy and system change into workable, resilient operations, without losing sight of the passenger experience.
If you are interested in speaking to Valcon about EES or our broader Aviation capability, please contact: Steven van der Kruk – [email protected] – Jasper van Ooijen – [email protected] – Bas van Zijl – [email protected]
