EES role out

la531983

Be interested to know if that actually happens. All the airports I have left the EU in thus far since this came in had the kiosks in departures, now I have no idea if I actually had to use them but there was never a queue so I did anyway just in case the machines knocked me back.

casjen

Arrived in afternoon Ryanair and none queing for machines.1 min didnt ask any questions. To border kiosk and about 8 in queue and took 10 mins to get through no further checks and got stamp. Took a while as a family hadnt used the machines but a smaller version is attached to kiosk and they had to use that controlled by the guards. All in all from getting off plane to picking up luggage to leaving terminal about 30 mins. Coming back on wed afternoon again no queue at machines and only a few people at border kiosk i went straight to them knowing this portable version was there. Again delayed by a large family but when I presented my passport it was just stamped and through. Whether this is the norm or just Berlin Brandenburgh I dont know.

katejo

I recently arrived in Helsinki and their set up didn't include self service machines for passengers to use. We queued at a traditional passport kiosk and the guy there took my photo. He also had facility to do fingerprints but I didn't need to provide those. They were already on their system for me.

la531983

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82151116#Comment_82151116

Very surprised an airport such as Helsinki, with numerous flights from North America and the Far East, doesnt have the machines.

katejo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82151191#Comment_82151191

I didn't see any at all, not even cordoned off and out of use.

JosephK

Our experience, for what it's worth, of the system, admittedly based on one entry/exit via Faro.

First problem, plenty of machines but far too many of them not working. If so many relatively new machines unserviceable, that indicates they are unreliable.

Second problem (the main one), the machines have three functions to perform, first scan the passport, this worked OK. Second, facial scan, this worked eventually. The problem being that it is distracted by people in the background and keeps picking up their faces and, guess what, there are a lot of people walking around in an airport. Got fed up of being told by machine that I needed to be on my own when I was. Third, fingerprint scan - this the machine quite simply would not do, Mrs K and a great many other passengers had this problem. This indicates that machines are not fit for purpose (but fit for scrap) and that those who designed and programmed system are incompetent.

Third problem, we were direct to manual control. There were queues but they were moving albeit slowly. Until any problems were encountered by operating staff. There was some problem with the passport of the person in front of us but instead of taking him to one side and getting a more senior official with authority to resolve problem, the queue was stopped (and we weren't allowed to change queue) while the border guard scratched his head and looked at his computer screen for ten minutes. They then closed another queue so that two border guards could get together and scratch their heads for another twenty minutes. Eventually, whether the problem was resolved or not, the guy was allowed through. Distinct lack of initiative or common sense in allowing the situation to develop.

So, it took far longer to exit airport than necessary, an inconvenience not a disaster. Similarly returning, nobody missed the flight but the assorted queues took far longer to negotiate than usual or necessary. I think the system could work but it needs better equipment and system design and competent designers and a bit more common sense, where required, from Border Control.

TELLIT01

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82151191#Comment_82151191

That will actually be precisely the reason they don't have the machines. Airports with large numbers of non-EU arrivals are the ones experiencing the biggest queues.

TELLIT01

We returned from Crete yesterday. They are still operating the seperate queue for UK passport holders, but seem to have full checks for all other non-EU nationals although not using the EES machines. We got through pretty quickly but there were a lot of flights to Tel Aviv where many passengers appeared to have missed their flights. The whole non-EU passport control area is small and was chaotic.

zagfles

Coming back from Croatia a couple of days ago, the queue for manual checks was very long but one of the staff asked us if we had UK passports and we were directed to use the e-gates lane, even though the signs specified it was for EU/EEA passports only. The queue for manual checks was very long.

The woman in front of us at the e-gate couldn't get it to work, member of staff came to help and she was told that only UK passport holders can use the e-gates! She pointed at the sign but was told it's wrong (so she obviously had an EU passport, probably Irish by her accent), and she had to join the manual check queue.

It all seems to be a bit chaotic with no-one knowing what they're doing, but we didn't have any delays.

NoodleDoodleMan

An EU passport holder should be entitled to pass through a dedicated EU lane - sounds like a local foul up with officials not knowing the rules, or simply ignoring them for immediate operational convenience.

The more you hear about EES the more you realise what a monumental mess it has become in various locations.