43% of UK Adults Rethink EU Travel as EES Border Waits Hit 5 Hours
Updated
Updated · ETIAS.com · Aug 19
43% of UK Adults Rethink EU Travel as EES Border Waits Hit 5 Hours
3 articles · Updated · ETIAS.com · Aug 19
Summary
43% of UK adults said the EU’s new Entry/Exit System has changed how they view travel abroad, with 15% considering UK holidays, 17% eyeing quieter travel times and 16% reporting greater stress.
48 respondents in Savanta’s 2,381-person poll said they had already canceled a trip, though the survey pointed more to anxiety and plan changes than to widespread abandonment of EU travel.
5-hour peak waits since EES became fully operational in April have driven the concern, while Rome Fiumicino said passport-control processing times have nearly tripled and some travelers have missed flights or ferries.
European airport and airline groups have urged Ursula von der Leyen to intervene, calling the system critical, while ABTA says it is not yet a major deterrent if contingency staffing and separate queues continue beyond September.
£30.5 million in UK funding is going to Dover, Eurotunnel and Eurostar infrastructure even though London says the checks are the EU’s responsibility, underscoring the wider cost of a system meant to modernize borders.