Carla Denise, an American traveler, described a long wait at Brussels-Zaventem Airport (BRU) on Thursday, September 24, when she arrived at 7:15 AM and joined the "Other Passports" queue at 7:34 AM. According to her testimony published on Facebook, she reached the passport control counter at 12:19 PM, after approximately four hours and 45 minutes of waiting. She noted that the European Entry and Exit System (EES) was in effect and that the photos she shared showed EES kiosks, none of which were operational. She mentioned that water, paper fans, and Biscoff cookies were distributed to travelers in the queue. Denise also noted that there are toilets in the corridor, allowing travelers to leave the queue to use them and return to their place. Long waits were also reported at other European airports. At Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, waits of up to four hours were reported in the spring of 2026, particularly during the full implementation of the EES. In Switzerland, longer border checks were observed at Geneva and Zurich airports, especially when multiple flights outside the Schengen area arrived simultaneously. The EES became operational at the external borders of the 29 Schengen area countries that use it on April 10, 2026. It records entries and exits of citizens of third countries making short stays, as well as some personal and biometric data. It does not apply to all non-European travelers indiscriminately; holders of residence permits or long-stay visas, for example, are exempt. Creating a file during a first passage can take longer than a subsequent check. Registration can be done at the counter, with a facial image taken and, if applicable, fingerprints. Nine countries, including France, Greece, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Malta, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland, have requested flexibility from the European Commission to temporarily suspend certain EES registrations due to ongoing implementation difficulties. The European regulation allowed, under exceptional circumstances and at certain checkpoints, a temporary suspension of biometric data registration to avoid excessive waiting times. This period of flexibility expired on September 6. The European Commission indicated it was in contact with the concerned countries regarding "operational adjustments" at certain border posts and had proposed additional support, notably through Frontex, without confirming a new period of flexibility.