Portugal and Italy refuse to suspend controversial EU border checks that have caused travel chaos and left Britons facing hours-long queues

Portugal and Italy have refused to suspend controversial EU border checks that are causing chaos for Britons at airports on the continent.

Reports earlier this week suggested the two countries would follow Greece’s lead in suspending new Entry-Exit System (EES) rules.

The system requires all non-EU travelers to visit special kiosks at border crossings and submit facial scans and fingerprints; However, these measures have pushed some airports to ‘breaking point’.

Long queues across Europe have caused chaos, with some holidaymakers missing their flights after waiting hours to complete checks.

But despite calls to avoid further disruption ahead of the summer, the European Commission confirmed on Thursday that Portuguese and Italian airports would not suspend the system.

This comes amid rumors that other European countries such as Spain, France and Croatia may opt to abandon the EES in a situation where the rules could ‘collapse like a house of snow’.

Seamus McCauley, of travel company Holiday Extras, claimed this week that countries may be left with little choice but to challenge the EU to protect the livelihoods of people dependent on tourism.

He added: ‘Countries will not sit back and allow Greece to trade because they will not face EES delays at airports. Doing so would be politically toxic as jobs are at stake.

Long queues across Europe have caused chaos, with some holidaymakers missing their flights after waiting for hours at border controls (Malaga Airport pictured on 2 January 2026)

‘The presentation was a complete fiasco. British tourists bring £3bn a year into the Greek economy and the EES has decided it will not jeopardize this because it is not working properly.’

Airlines such as Ryanair have also called on countries to suspend EES, describing the system as ‘half-baked’.

Chief operations officer Neil McMahon said: ‘Governments are trying to implement a sketchy IT system in the middle of peak travel season.

‘Passengers pay the price, enduring hours of passport control queues and in some cases missing flights. The solution is simple – governments should suspend the EES until September.’

Biometric checks were first introduced in October 2025 and were due to become fully operational last month, but delays continued.

Alicante Airport, one of Spain’s busiest airports, has been ‘pushed to breaking point’ due to lack of systems and staff, local police said.

Meanwhile, Malaga Airport was also affected and a British holidaymaker was stranded at the center with her daughter after missing her flight.

Michelle Maguire, 38, and her daughter were due to fly back to Liverpool from Malaga but failed to arrive home 24 hours after being caught up in travel chaos – costing the family £1,000.

The airline announced that waiting times can be up to two hours at many airports such as Malaga, Alicante, Lanzarote, Tenerife South, Gran Canaria, Reus and Fuerteventura.

One parent on Reddit described having to stand in line with their crying child for more than three hours because they had “nowhere to go except the toilet” and claimed that airport staff “didn’t do anything to help.”

Picture: Holidaymakers in Milan Linate face chaos caused by the EES system

In Italy, queues are particularly bad in Bergamo, Malpensa, Fiumicino, Ciampino, Venice, Turin, Palermo, Pisa and Naples.

Meanwhile, long queues formed at Beauvais, Marseille and Nantes airports in France.

Greece pulled the plug on the rules in a recent decision to ‘ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival system’, according to director Eleni Skarveli.

The director of the Greek National Tourism Organization in the UK added that the change could help “significantly reduce waiting times”.

Greece’s decision is seen as a strategic move to protect its vital tourism sector, which relies heavily on British visitors flocking to hotspots such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes, each of which can receive more than 2,000 visitors a day from the UK during peak season.

Greece is expected to be the fifth most popular destination for British holidaymakers this summer, behind Spain, France, Italy and the US, according to the Association of British Travel Agents.

The European Commission said it was ‘in contact with Greece to clarify the situation’.

The rules allow controls to be suspended for short periods in exceptional cases, but do not allow ‘blanket exemptions for certain third-country nationals and for an extended period’.

This comes as airlines continue to grapple with skyrocketing jet fuel prices caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Airlines have grounded 13,000 flights worldwide this month, but holidaymakers have been urged not to change their travel plans.

It is said that there is currently no fuel shortage in the UK and contingency plans are in place should the situation worsen.