EU delays at Stansted

[CandyCaneTwirls]

What's the hive mind opinion on Stansted airport delays due to the new EU rules?
We're heading off Saturday for 10 am flight and DH wants to arrive 2 hours beforehand. I reckon 3 would be better? We have luggage to check in.

Thanks Nigel. A lovely brexit benefit.

The delays would be at your destination, not Stansted

Stansted at peak holiday time can be mayhem and queues long especially for luggage check in. Better safe than sorry and missing a flight

No delays at all at Stansted yesterday. Or at Rome

^^This.

Delays (if any) due to the new system will be at the EU airport on arrival/pre-departure, not at a UK one.

The delays, if any, are on arrival in Europe, not the departure.

We had big delays at Stansted and nearly missed flight at just under 2 hours, none in Europe. Maybe do 2.5 hours, it'll probably be fine on 2. Or fast track. Our flight was earlier at c 7am and loads taking off then.

There may be security delays at Stansted but the EES delays are at Schengen airports, not UK ones.

Exactly...

In the context of the OPs question the European system (EES) won't cause delays at Stansted....(to cover all bases I guess I have to say it might in theory if it really clobbered schedules)

However UK airports are quite capable of generating delays that have nowt to do with EES or the EU....

stansted might well be chaos but it wont be due to the new EES which will be when you arrive at wherever you are going (assuming it's a Schengen country), and when you leave it to come back

on a more practical note I'd probably aim to arrive 2.5 hours before. Worth find out how many hours beforehand your airline will let you check in though. Ryanair is only 2 hours so you'd be wasting your time arriving earlier than that.

Stanstead is generally super busy 7-11. That's the time we fly to seville with Ryanair.
We tend to stay in the hotel next door the night before and get fast track.
Calm, easy breakfast in Leon

If I did it again I would pay for fast track at Stansted, the non fast track was rammed of people right up against each other getting stressed as many were close to missing flights and not being able to see end of queue. Flight back we were told couldn't drop off baggage until 2 hours before but we did 3 hours and could join queue and drop off early. It can vary though.

I have made about 10 flights to EU since this came in. Not had any increased delays leaving the UK.

Have had a couple of 1 hour+ queues on arrival at EU airports but the biggest delays have been when leaving EU airports. Security is fine but there are nearly always queues to go through passport control. The longest took 2.5 hours when we were leaving Charlois. Lots of people missed flights. Have also encountered 1 hour+ querues at Cologne, Bilbao amongst others.

And just think, we used to have free movement of persons…

We flew from Stansted during May half term at 7am and bag drop was chaos but security was fine and there are no extra checks on the UK side.

I do wish the headlines about queues would make it clear what the process actually is, as we had an hour wait at the arrival airport which definitely took others by surprise.

Well yes, but even pre-Brexit if you were arriving/departing the Schengen zone (so travelling UK to/from Europe) you still went through passport control, and there was most definitely potential for long delays high season at some airports....

I'd agree however ATM EES is working badly some places (but it's OK in others).

Thanks everyone. We'll go with 2.5 hours.