Lanzarote Airport EES: Has It Finally Got Better After the Summer?
If you're travelling to Lanzarote this autumn, there's some reassuring news about the new European Entry/Exit System (EES).
When EES first became a major talking point earlier this year, it caused plenty of concern among people planning holidays to the Canary Islands.
There were reports of huge queues at Lanzarote Airport, frustrated passengers and travellers waiting for lengthy periods to get through border control. At one particularly busy weekend in June, local reports said more than 1,500 passengers were caught up in queues at César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport. Earlier in the year, there had also been reports of thousands of passengers waiting for passport control.
Understandably, this left many people wondering: "What will Lanzarote Airport be like when I arrive?"
Now that the main summer season has passed, we have a much better idea of how the system is settling down.
And, thankfully, the picture appears to be considerably more positive.
So, has EES improved at Lanzarote Airport?
The short answer is: it certainly seems so!
The EES system became fully operational across the Schengen external border on 10 April 2026. It requires eligible non-EU visitors making short stays to have their passport details recorded, along with biometric information such as a facial image and fingerprints.
The first few months were always going to be the biggest test.
Airports had to deal with new technology, new procedures, additional biometric checks and large numbers of holidaymakers arriving at the same time.
Lanzarote was certainly not immune to those problems.
During the spring and early summer, there were some long waits at the airport, particularly when several aircraft carrying non-EU passengers arrived close together.
But recent experiences suggest that the situation has become much more manageable.
One recent traveller discussion about Lanzarote Airport in September reported that the airport appeared to have sorted many of the previous EES queuing problems. The traveller described arriving on a busy Thursday evening, with several aircraft landing within minutes of each other, yet getting from the aircraft to the car in around 25 minutes without hold luggage.
Another recent traveller report described arriving at Lanzarote on a Tuesday and walking straight through without a queue, while noting that waiting times can still depend heavily on how many flights arrive together.
That last point is important.
It isn't necessarily EES that causes the queue.
One of the biggest lessons from the summer is that there isn't one standard EES waiting time at Lanzarote Airport.
If several large aircraft arrive within a short period, the number of passengers needing border processing can suddenly increase.
If arrivals are spread out, the experience can be completely different.
This means one passenger might report walking through passport control almost immediately, while another arriving on a particularly busy afternoon could encounter a much longer wait.
That's nothing particularly unusual for an airport — but the new biometric process has made the effect of passenger surges more noticeable.
What was causing the original problems?
The first months of EES were a genuine learning curve.
Under the old system, many visitors simply handed over their passport, had it checked and stamped and continued on their way.
Under EES, eligible non-EU visitors have their information recorded digitally. The first registration involves biometric information, including a photograph and fingerprints.
Once that information is already in the system, subsequent crossings can involve verification rather than completing the whole initial registration process again.
That distinction should become increasingly important as more regular visitors have already been registered.
In other words, the system should become more familiar to both passengers and airport staff as time goes on.
The end of summer was another important test.
There was some concern going into September because temporary measures allowing countries to ease biometric requirements during exceptionally heavy congestion were due to end on 6 September.
Travel organisations warned that this could potentially bring renewed queues at busy European airports.
However, the European Commission said in early September that EES had broadly worked well over the summer, while acknowledging that some individual border crossing points still needed adjustments.
There have also been reports of some European countries taking additional time to introduce certain elements of the biometric checks at particularly busy airports.
So the wider European picture isn't completely problem-free.
But that doesn't mean you should expect the scenes reported from Lanzarote earlier this year every time you land.
What are people saying about Lanzarote Airport now?
Perhaps the most encouraging sign is the change in the tone of recent traveller discussions.
Earlier in the year, EES generated plenty of complaints about long waits at Lanzarote Airport.
More recently, the conversations have become much more mixed — and importantly, there are now reports from travellers describing short waits or no queue at all.
That's not proof that there will never be another long queue.
It does, however, suggest that the airport and border authorities have had time to adapt to the new system.
And that is exactly what many people were hoping would happen.
Should you still allow extra time?
Yes.
Even though the situation appears to have improved, I'd still recommend allowing yourself a little extra time when travelling through Lanzarote Airport.
If you're arriving in Lanzarote, particularly during a busy holiday period, don't panic if you see a queue at passport control.
It doesn't automatically mean you're going to be stuck there for hours.
If several flights arrive together, the queue can build quickly and then reduce just as quickly once the passengers have been processed.
If you're leaving Lanzarote, make sure you understand that EES can involve an additional passport-processing stage before departure.
Follow the airport signs and instructions from staff and don't leave your journey through the airport until the last minute.
And what about British visitors?
This is particularly relevant for British holidaymakers because UK nationals are treated as non-EU nationals for EES purposes.
The system applies to non-EU nationals visiting the Schengen area for short stays, while EU nationals and nationals of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, as well as Switzerland, are not registered in EES. There are also exemptions for certain people holding residence permits or long-stay visas.
For the typical British tourist arriving in Lanzarote for a holiday, however, EES is part of the new border process.
The good news is that you don't need to apply for EES before your holiday.
It is a border registration system rather than a visa.
Don't confuse EES with ETIAS.
This is another important point for anyone reading older travel information online.
EES and ETIAS are not the same thing.
EES is the border registration system that is already operating.
ETIAS is the separate European travel authorisation system, which is scheduled to begin later in 2026.
So if you're reading an article telling you that you need to apply for an "EES visa" before travelling to Lanzarote, be careful.
That's not what EES is.
Our advice if you're coming to Lanzarote this autumn
Don't let the stories from the early months of EES put you off your holiday.
The system has certainly had a difficult introduction, and the problems experienced earlier in 2026 were real.
But Lanzarote Airport has now had months of experience dealing with the new process, (unlike some destinations who paused the process). Recent traveller experiences suggest that the situation is far less alarming than some of the headlines from earlier in the year might suggest.
Queues can still happen.
Busy arrival periods can still cause congestion.
And nobody can guarantee how long passport control will take on the day you land.
But that's very different from saying that every visitor to Lanzarote is facing hours in a queue.
Our Lanzarote tip
Arrive prepared, allow a little extra time, have your passport ready and follow the airport instructions — but don't arrive expecting chaos.
For most holidaymakers, the EES process is simply becoming another part of travelling to Europe.
And after a summer of learning, adapting and ironing out the problems, there are encouraging signs that Lanzarote Airport is getting much better at handling it.
So if you're sitting at home worrying about whether your first sight of Lanzarote will be a passport-control queue, there's no need to panic.
You could be through the airport, collecting your luggage and heading towards the sunshine much sooner than you think.
An AI Generated Image has been used in this Article.
