Story perspectives

Greece Halts British Biometric Scans Amid 3-Hour Queue Crisis

5/30/2026

Summary

Story summary

Greece has suspended biometric scans for British travelers to avoid Entry-Exit System queues and keep the pre-system entry process unchanged.
Wizz Air UK MD Yvonne Moynihan says the system causes queues, urging passengers to arrive three hours early and bring a charger and water.
An ACI Airports survey of 45 airports in 20 EU states found queues of up to three and a half hours linked to the Entry-Exit System.

History

Historical Context

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act on November 19 2001, creating the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to centralize airport screening. The agency hired 55,000 screeners from 1.7 million applicants between February and December 2002, a massive staffing surge that later produced long queues. Greece’s recent suspension of biometric entry-exit scans for British travelers echoes those post-9/11 bottlenecks, prompting calls to modernize border-control technology.

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Story summary

Greece has suspended biometric scans for British travelers to avoid Entry-Exit System queues and keep the pre-system entry process unchanged.
Wizz Air UK MD Yvonne Moynihan says the system causes queues, urging passengers to arrive three hours early and bring a charger and water.
An ACI Airports survey of 45 airports in 20 EU states found queues of up to three and a half hours linked to the Entry-Exit System.

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