British tourists face massive airport queues as they fly home from Ibiza as new EU digital border system fails

Published: 11:42, 17 May 2026 | Updated: 11:43, 17 May 2026 British tourists faced long queues at Ibiza airport as the new EU digital border system failed to work for UK passengers flying out of the country. Many travellers returning to London and Birmingham yesterday had to queue twice because the facial scanning checks did not work properly and they had to have their passports checked manually. Passengers now have to complete a biometric registration at a self-service kiosk when they enter Ibiza and have their fingerprints and face scanned. On leaving the country, they have to have their passport and face scanned again to prove they are going. In the past, travellers simply had to show their passports to officers. One British tourist said: 'It was an absolute joke. It's a relatively quiet time of year out of school holidays and it's a shambles. At peak times in the school summer holidays it will be absolute chaos. 'Queuing twice is such a waste of time and we're lucky we didn't miss our plane.' British tourists faced long queues at Ibiza airport as the new EU digital border system failed to work for UK passengers flying out of the country Many travellers returning to London and Birmingham yesterday had to queue twice because the facial scanning checks did not work properly and they had to have their passports checked manually The European Union's new digital Entry/Exit System (EES) was first introduced in October last year and was meant to become fully operational on 10 April. It requires most short-term visitors from outside the EU and European Economic Area to register biometric data each time they enter or leave the Schengen free travel zone. The rollout of the system has caused long queues at lots of European airports over the last few weeks and sparked warnings that delays could worsen over the summer holiday period. Greece's tourism minister, Olga Kefalogianni, has confirmed British visitors will not face biometric checks at the border at any time during the summer season to prevent delays. The new Entry/Exit System, known as EES, has been slowly rolled out across Europe since October, with 29 countries now bringing in the new biometric border control process, but many countries are simply still 'not ready', say experts.  Tourists reported chaotic scenes and lengthy delays at airports across Europe on April 10 when the new digital border controls officially came into effect – with exasperated travellers saying they were forced to wait 'for hours' at terminals, including in Lisbon, Milan and Paris, to clear immigration.  In April, Airports Council International said the latest data collected from airports across Europe shows a 'continued deterioration in waiting times at border crossing points' where EES has been introduced. Delays are 'regularly reaching up to two hours at peak traffic times, with some airports reporting even longer queues', it added. The trade body previously warned that hubs in Germany, France, Iceland, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal were particularly impacted.  It comes after the boss of Ryanair accused the EU of punishing British holidaymakers over Brexit by subjecting them to hours long passport control queues.   Chief executive Michael O'Leary, who backed Remain in the referendum, claimed the bloc was 'undoubtedly' forcing Britons to endure longer waits at airports as payback for leaving the EU in 2020. Mr O'Leary said there had been 'significant disruption' at passport control since the new system was first introduced in October last year. The system is being introduced in stages, with full operation expected from April 2026, but has already caused backlogs and increased waiting times for passengers. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary (above) accused EU of punishing British holidaymakers over Brexit by subjecting them to hours-long passport control queues 'We are beginning to see significant disruption. That's the next big issue. And EES has just been a s*** show and a shambles,' the Ryanair CEO told The Times. He explained that any EU state can defer the implementation of EES for five months until the end of September, saying it would make 'much more sense' to do so to avoid the situation getting even worse during summer holidays. 'There's a bit of Brexit in this too. Here, you voted for Brexit – f*****g join the queue,' he said. Mr O'Leary added further delays were being caused by understaffed immigration kiosks, while passengers who had already registered under the new system were being put in the same queue as everyone else. He warned that smaller airports, such as those in Seville, Alicante, Tenerife and Faro, were likely to be most affected by delays.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. 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