EES delays return to Frankfurt and Munich as Herbstferien begins
Photo: Ceddyfresse at de.wikipedia · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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The European Union's temporary permission letting border guards skip fingerprint and face scans during rush-hour queues expired on 6 September 2026. Brussels let the deadline pass without granting a joint request from Germany and eight other countries to keep it running. Frankfurt Airport's passport queues had already averaged 120 minutes in July, twice what they were a year earlier. Most German travelers won't personally join that line. Here's who actually will, and what to check before Herbstferien starts.
That timing matters most right now. Herbstferien starts in the earliest German states on 5 October 2026, and Bavaria follows a month later. Millions of families will fly through Frankfurt and Munich, Germany's two busiest airports, right as the safety valve that kept queues from spiraling disappears. Most of those travelers are EU citizens who'll barely notice a border guard. The exposure sits elsewhere: mixed-nationality families, tight connections booked before EES existed, and hub congestion that slows everyone down.
- Flex mode is over: The EU's temporary permission to skip biometric checks during congestion expired 6 September 2026, and the Commission didn't renew it despite Germany's request, joined by eight other countries.
- EU citizens are exempt: The Entry Exit System applies only to non-EU, non-EEA, non-Swiss nationals. If every passport in your group is EU, you use the EasyPASS lane, not EES.
- The real risk is congestion, not the desk: Frankfurt's average wait hit 120 minutes in July 2026, double July 2025. That backs up terminals for everyone, EU lane included.
- Mixed-nationality families carry the exposure: A non-EU spouse, in-law, or child without a German or EU residence permit stands in the EES line, and the rest of the family waits alongside them.
- Herbstferien starts 5 October in the earliest states: Build a longer buffer than usual before any non-Schengen departure through Frankfurt or Munich this autumn.
What changed on 6 September
The EU's temporary flexibility mechanism for the Entry Exit System expired on 6 September 2026. That mechanism let border authorities at busy checkpoints partially suspend fingerprint and facial-scan collection when queues became unmanageable, while still logging every crossing.
Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Switzerland asked the European Commission in a joint letter, dated 7 July 2026, to keep the safeguard running past that date. No extension came. Airline trade group IATA is still pushing for its return "until the end of the winter season," a position it restated on 7 September, a day after the deadline passed.
So that flexibility is gone: airports must run full EES processing no matter how long the line gets. Entry refusals EU-wide had already climbed to more than 43,700 by July 2026, per Commission data, up from 30,000+ in the Commission's own April count.
Who this actually hits
Most German travelers are not who this hits. EES is "an automated IT system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay," per the European Commission, and Frankfurt Airport's own page confirms EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens use the same automated lane, EasyPASS, they always have.
Three groups carry the real exposure, and residence status decides who's in which. A non-EU spouse, parent, or child living in Germany on a residence permit uses EasyPASS like the rest of the family. Frankfurt Airport's own page lists people with a German residence permit as eligible for that automated lane, aged 12 and up. It's the ones without that document who stand in the EES line. Think of a visiting in-law here for the holidays on a tourist visa, a grandparent flying in for Herbstferien, or a stepchild or niece on a non-EU passport with no German residence card. We'd treat that residence-permit question as the first thing to check for any binational family, well before departure day.
Munich Airport's own page notes that children under 12 and travelers with reduced mobility are processed manually at a staffed counter rather than a kiosk. If you're traveling with a non-EU family member, our EES explainer for non-EU visitors covers what they need.
Assuming a short layover is fine because your own passport is German. If anyone in your party needs EES processing, the connection risk belongs to the whole group.
Photo: J. Patrick Fischer · CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What to do before you fly this Herbstferien
Build a longer buffer than last year, confirm who needs EES processing, and know which line applies to which passport before you land. Ten minutes at home beats a scramble at the gate.
- Confirm which passports in your group are non-EU, non-EEA, or Swiss
- Check in online and download boarding passes before arriving at FRA or MUC
- Add at least one extra hour before a non-Schengen connection this autumn
- Register non-EU family members at a self-service kiosk in advance where it's offered
- Keep offline copies of passports and visas in case a queue forces a manual check
Our travel document checklist covers what else to have ready before any international departure. Tools like TripProf store passport and visa scans with offline access, so a slow kiosk line isn't also the moment you're digging through email for a boarding pass.
Munich's own advice is to arrive earlier than usual for non-Schengen flights, without naming a figure, and Lufthansa's published minimum connecting time at Frankfurt is 60 minutes, a number built for a smooth day, not the queue Frankfurt is actually running. We'd budget two and a half hours for a mixed-nationality group flying non-Schengen out of Frankfurt in early October, not an industry standard, just our own call.
How Frankfurt and Munich got this congested
Frankfurt and Munich got this congested because EES adds fingerprints, a facial scan, and a passport check longer than the stamp it replaced, for every non-EU crossing, and neither airport added staff or lanes fast enough to absorb it. The EU phased the rollout in from October 2025, reaching full operation EU-wide on 10 April 2026. That extra time compounds across every arrival bank at a hub Frankfurt's size, which is exactly what the flexibility mechanism existed to absorb. We covered the wider chaos across European airports in our spring 2026 coverage, before the summer numbers made this picture clear.
| Airport | July 2025 | July 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Frankfurt | 60 | 120 |
| Munich | 31 | 60 |
Frankfurt's wait roughly doubled year over year, and Munich's nearly did too, even though Munich's peak stayed well under Frankfurt's. Given those numbers, we'd choose Munich over Frankfurt for a mixed-nationality connection this autumn, if the itinerary gives you a choice.
What to watch next
IATA is still lobbying for the mechanism's return through winter, though nothing has been announced. Herbstferien itself unfolds in waves, not one peak weekend: Hesse, Saarland, and Rhineland-Palatinate start on 5 October 2026, most states follow through mid and late October, and Bavaria closes it out starting 2 November, per the Kultusministerkonferenz's official calendar. Expect congestion to track those start dates in stages.
If your trip continues to the UK, EES isn't the only new border layer to plan for. Our UK ETA vs ETIAS comparison covers the other side of the Channel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does EES affect German citizens flying to other EU countries?
No. EES only processes non-EU, non-EEA, and non-Swiss nationals entering or leaving the Schengen area. A German citizen flying within the EU or Schengen area never touches an EES kiosk.
Is the EES flexibility mechanism gone for good?
It expired on 6 September 2026 and the European Commission hasn't reinstated it. IATA is still asking for it back through the winter season, but nothing's been confirmed.
Do children need to go through EES?
Non-EU children do, though Munich Airport handles those under 12 manually at a staffed counter, not a kiosk. EU children use EasyPASS with the rest of the family.
Which is worse right now, Frankfurt or Munich?
Frankfurt. Its average wait hit 120 minutes in July 2026, double Munich's 60 minutes in the same month.
What should I do if my connection is under 90 minutes and someone in my group needs EES processing?
Check in online and download boarding passes before you land, then tell the gate agent about the tight connection the moment you arrive so staff can flag it. If the layover is under an hour, look seriously at rebooking a later connection, given how long EES queues are currently running at Frankfurt and Munich.
Does the EES flexibility mechanism expiring change anything for EU citizens?
No. EU, EEA, and Swiss citizens, along with non-EU family members holding a German or EU residence permit, still use EasyPASS regardless of the flexibility mechanism. What it changes is processing speed for non-EU nationals without that status, and that slower processing backs up the terminal enough to affect everyone's queue time.
Key Takeaways
- The EES flexibility mechanism is gone. It expired 6 September 2026, and no extension came despite a joint request from Germany and eight other countries to keep it running.
- EU citizens are exempt from EES. If every passport in your group is EU, EEA, or Swiss, you'll use EasyPASS exactly like before.
- Mixed-nationality families and connections carry the real exposure. A non-EU spouse, in-law, or child without a German or EU residence permit means the whole group waits together, and Frankfurt hit 120 minutes in July, double Munich's 60.
- Build in extra time for Herbstferien. With the earliest states starting 5 October, add at least an hour beyond what you budgeted last year for any non-Schengen connection.
- Keep your documents organized before you go. A tool like TripProf can store passports, visas, and boarding passes with offline access, so a slow line isn't also the moment you're searching for a scanned passport.
Sources
- Euronews: EES flexibility changes from 6 September (4 Sep 2026)
- Euronews: nine countries urge EU to ease EES checks (10 Jul 2026)
- Travel Tomorrow: nine countries' joint letter dated 7 July 2026
- Euronews: EES wait times double, citing Financial Times / Qsensor (12 Aug 2026)
- Biometric Update: IATA urges EES flexibility extension (7 Sep 2026)
- Biometric Update: EES faces fresh political pressure, 43,728 refusals cited (13 Jul 2026)
- Frankfurt Airport: official border control page
- Munich Airport: official EES information page
- Lufthansa: minimum connecting time increase to 60 minutes at Frankfurt
- European Commission: Entry/Exit System policy overview
- European Commission: EES launch date announcement
- European Commission: EES fully operational, 10 April 2026
- European Commission: 2026 State of Schengen Report, COM(2026) 150 final
- Kultusministerkonferenz (KMK): official school holiday calendar 2026/2027
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