Major airports introduce new '25-minute' rule – full list of 46 locations affected

A Spanish airport operator has announced it will reduce waiting times for certain groups of people amid increasing chaos following the new EU Entry/Exit System. Spanish airport operator Aena has told staff to allow vulnerable passengers to skip lengthy passport queues if waits for biometric machines exceed 25 minutes, according to reports. The move will support thousands of holidaymakers with young children and people with disabilities, who will be fast-tracked to passport control if queues are too long.

The EES is an automated IT system that registers non-EU travellers for short stays at Schengen area borders. It replaces human-controlled passport stamps with automatic facial recognition and fingerprint scans, digitally recording all entries and exits to and from the borderless zone. The new rules have gradually been introduced in Europe since October 2025. Some travellers have faced huge delays at border checks, with some waiting for up to three hours and even missing flights.

Dave Giles, 47, an IT manager from Raunds in Northamptonshire, told The Guardian he missed his flight home on April 12 from Copenhagen, where he had been to a music festival with his family, after being caught in long queues at passport control despite arriving hours early.

“Insurance won’t touch it. The airline said it wasn’t their fault,” he said, adding that he is not expecting the lost money back.

Greece said it is not prepared to put up with the situation caused by the new European Union rules and has temporarily suspended biometric checks.

In an effort to speed up the queues, airports operated by Aena will allow the most vulnerable passengers to go straight through to passport control if the wait for the new biometric machines is more than 25 minutes.