Brussels Airport said that because of the EU’s new Entry/Exit System, border control queues remain too long and it is adding more control points to ease delays caused by checks for non-European travellers.
At the end of September, some non-European passengers reportedly had to wait up to five hours, and the airport said on Friday that waiting times were still unacceptably high.
According to Brussels Airport, the longer queues are linked to the new European border registration system, known as EES. It said average processing times during the morning peak for arriving visa passengers had become two to three times longer under the new system, a trend seen across Europe and far beyond initial expectations.
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Checks now take longer because travellers arriving from outside the Schengen area must also have biometric data recorded, including facial images and fingerprints. In addition, some travellers from non-Schengen countries who were previously allowed to use e-gates must now join the queues for staffed control desks.
The airport had already opened extra control points ahead of the introduction of EES and is now expanding capacity further. In December, eight additional staffed control positions will be added for arriving passengers, bringing the total to 20.
At the start of 2027, six more e-gates will also be installed for Schengen travellers, on top of the current 12.
