To warn you not to travel to Prague by plane on a non-EU passport

[Figmentofmyimagination]

Horrible chaos. 2+ hour passport control queues. First a very long queue for the new machine check - eyes, finger prints etc - and then second very long queue for a manual check - why???. V hot. Incredibly stressful and unpleasant experience. No forewarning by easyJet. Never want to do that again. Apparently it will be the same when we leave. Everybody has to do it - even if you have previously supplied your finger prints etc while travelling to a different EU country.

I wish we could make the people who voted for Brexit go in much longer queues

If Greece is so indifferent to British tourism, why did Greece suspend the EES checks specifically for British passport holders this summer?

British tourists represent about 10% of the Greece tourism industry’s annual revenues - and about 1% of Greece’s GDP. That’s a big deal.

Thanks for the warning. I travel regularly to Prague and have not yet experienced such long queues - one time there was a short wait but other times were fine. Were the machines down or something? Let’s see what happens this week.

Haven't had a problem with Greece, France and Italy this year. All standard length queues. And if if there were no Brexit it would just be the same people queuing in the EU queue instead of the all other passports queue.

You have to do them every time you enter and leave an EU country.

Depends on the number of flights in / going out at the time.
We (family of 5, UK passports) went to Prague for 4 nights in August, no previous trips since EES system went live this spring. Bit of a longer wait than I would have liked (because I'm still bitter about Brexshit) but not the hours long nightmare I was expecting. Am surprised other travellers weren't warned, even our airport pick up confirmation mentioned there could be significant delays, I'd seen loads of warnings before we travelled.
Wasnt anywhere near as bad as returning to Stansted Airport from Denmark 2 years ago, when we had a 3 hour queue after arriving at Stansted due to travelling with little ones so couldnt use the egates.

Stupid question but what happens on the return if you are stuck in a queue for 2hrs and you miss your flight?
Do you turn up to the airport 4hrs early? 2hrs check in time and 2 hes queuing (but how long will the queue be?)

@Beachtastic, honestly, most European countries are just a bit bewildered about the UK's decision to leave the EU, apart from that they give it no headspace at all. They certainly do not 'hate us', they are just getting on with their lives and the issues in their own countries. It makes no difference to them really, however some of the behavior shown by our MEPs and the way leaving was dealt with showed incredible disrespect and entitlement. We left, our choice, Europe really is not salty about it

Had no problems in Czechia this year or with two trips to france. Maybe because we use airports mainly used by EU citizens

They are also making Australians, Canadians, Americans and Asians queue, and making themselves look incompetent in the process.

Curious that you didn't choose to post this in the Travel forum, where it would have been far more relevant.

Any airport can suffer delays and bottlenecks at times, it doesn't mean every airport is a permanent nightmare. I've travelled to Europe 3 x this year with a 5 - 20 min wait each time. Same as every other year. Sometimes manchester airport makes the news with people queuing out into the car park, but I've been lucky to never experience it.

My experience has been the opposite! Germany and Spain - both I was nearly the only person in the rest of world queue so was out a million times faster than all the poor returners to their own country queuing hotly and sitting on their luggage looking tired. Fingerprints and all.

@Labraradabrador, for most UK nationals the issue is Brexit because lots of people did not consider that their freedom to cross borders in Europe would change. Many are now angry about this and think it is because Europe 'hate us'. For people who travel mainly within Europe without restrictions previously, this is a significant change.

I thought once you'd registered for EES once you were good for 3 years in all Schengen countries?

We went through the exact same thing in Madeira in July. Absolute nightmare.

They'll manage.

Top Source Countries for Tourism to Greece

Germany: Largest source market by volume, with roughly 5.40 to 5.65 million arrivals and €3.61 billion in revenue.
United Kingdom: Second-largest overall market, with approximately 4.55 million visitors and fast-growing revenue reaching around €3.55 billion.
Bulgaria: Major regional and road-arrival market, sending roughly 3 million visitors annually.
Romania: Contributes approximately 2.5 to 2.7 million visitors each year.
Italy: Generates around 2.2 million annual visitors.
United States: Greece's highest-value major market, with about 1.55 million visitors spending the most per trip (averaging over €1,022 per traveler).
Balkan Region (Bulgaria, Romania, North Macedonia, Turkey, Albania, Serbia): Collectively accounts for 10 to 11 million visitors (roughly one-third of all international arrivals), mostly arriving via land borders.

It really IS Brexit. The gift that keeps on giving. We had a similar experience in Bergen, Vienna, Malta ...

Really? If you are on a cruise ship?

Oops. Hamburg and Honfleur, I may be a bit late in December...

Absolutely!

Don't worry, they're having to queue up with all the brown people now 😉
I know we do, but we're not feeling it so much 😁

I’ve heard it takes ages to get through some EU airports these days. I last flew into the EU about a year ago to Lanzarote and it was all quick and easy. This summer we went to France by ferry, and had a quick and easy time through passport control. They didn’t do the eye or fingerprint thing at the port. We were travelling with our dog too and that didn’t delay the process at all.

I have travelled to to Greece several times, Portugal and Spain with no issues whatsoever

If you can’t get your head round the fact that British tourism representing 10% of the revenue of Greece’s biggest industry is a big deal for their economy, I can’t help you. It’s equivalent to the entirety of their military spending. I’m not saying they would fall to pieces without it, but the Greek government clearly doesn’t share your view as to the insignificance of British tourism given that they unilaterally suspended EES checks for British passport holders this summer.

Singapore and (South) Korea are just individual countries.

The Schengen area has 29 countries, 4 of which are not even in the EU, so the problem has been integrating the border control systems of these countries and creating a database that is acceptable and accessible in these 29 countries.

Some countries have done this well while others have struggled so much that they have suspended the EES controls for the time being. Much also depends on the situation at any particular airport on any particular day - I frequently fly into the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Denmark and have not experienced any waiting time of more than 30 minutes. On the other hand, I've frequently waited for over an hour on arrival at Stansted just to enter the country on a UK passport and then another 30-40 minutes for luggage to appear. Regardless of the airport, if multiple aircraft land in a short space of time the Border Force booths, e-gates and the baggage handlers cannot keep up with the flow of passengers.