EES & Returning to UK from European Airports

user1977

Aren't airlines fairly predictable in which gate area they use?

TELLIT01

Which airport. Some have been having problems but others are seeming to cope OK.

cantbelieveit23

Impossible to be certain as each airport's organisation and response is different.

My experience: 1 Alicante last November, equipment in place but not in operation) 2 Barcelona (inbound, April) no sign of EES in use. 3 Valencia (last week). Fully operational, seemed fully staffed, some queuing but not long. Key points:

1 Ryanair accepting check in/bag drop 3 hours in advance of departure

2 Passengers on flights to non-Schengen destinations sent to gate well over an hour before departure

3 As has been suggested, this airport has separate areas with passport control for flights to non-Schengen destinations

However, you may expect totally different situations depending on destination

NoodleDoodleMan

"Impossible to be certain as each airport's organisation and response is different."

Indeed.

"However, you may expect totally different situations depending on destination"

Same again.

katejo

I am flying back from Valencia this Saturday 16th so will report back afterwards. I went through the fingerprint and photo procedures on arrival so will they make me do it again?

TELLIT01

Impossible to answer that @katejo as there doesn't seem to be consistency across airports let alone across countries. I've certainly read about people having to go through the same process numerous times, even from the same airport.

user1977

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81997622#Comment_81997622

If you are pointlessly directed to the EES terminal (which is what happened to me on leaving Madrid), it should on scanning your passport immediately tell you that you're already registered and can move on to the "normal" passport gate, you don't need to re-scan face/fingers from scratch, though will probably have photo taken at the normal passport control (haven't had fingerprints checked yet!).

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81998043#Comment_81998043

We stopped at the EES terminal just in case but no problem and we were directed to the e gates. No need to show anything at passport control. Waved us through. It was all very quick. No queues..

la531983

Has anyone worked out a pattern yet as to what reasoning it uses to send people to the manual queue?

We went through VCE last week, it only took 17 minutes from entering the queue at arrival to getting into baggage reclaim however it sent us to the E Gates. Same at departures too. Who does it send to the manual one, or is it just random?

I didnt really fancy the manual queue at arrivals, it looked huge.

Humphreyshalfmoon

There appears to be no rhyme or reason at all as regards EES. It seems to change from day to day, some airports report up to three hours to get through the system and yet a week later it only takes 10 minutes. Maybe it depends on who is in charge on that day, the travel industry is desperately trying to get the EU to get its act together before the peak season as otherwise some people will spend more time at the airport than in hotel. The only destination that appears to have taken decisive action is Greece which is ignoring the whole scheme for UK passport holders for the summer.