Schiphol’s passport queues can now waste up to two hours of your time, thanks to the EU’s new border control system (EES).
If you’re unfamiliar with the EES, it’s the European Union’s new Entry/Exit system, which registers the biometric information of all non-EU nationals travelling through the region. (Think: your fingerprints and a facial scan.)
While it’s designed to replace the old passport stamp with a digital record, digital progress hasn’t exactly resulted in shorter queues at the airport.
Note: If you have an EU passport, none of this applies to you. EES registration is for non-EU nationals, so you will not be affected by these passport queues.
How much longer are waiting times?
According to the travel analytics group Qsensor, maximum waiting times at Schiphol rose from 80 minutes in 2025 to a whopping 120 minutes this July.
With daily maximum waiting times averaging around 77 minutes, the group notes that “long queues are not an isolated incident”, but something travellers will have to factor into their plans.
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And Amsterdam isn’t alone in the struggle, either. As reported by the Financial Times, both Frankfurt and Munich saw their peak waiting times double — hitting 120 and 60 minutes, respectively.
Time and day are the “biggest factors”
If you’re looking to avoid the worst queues, you’ll want to avoid travelling on a Friday, where you’ll be faced with an average wait time of around 14 minutes. Instead, opt for a midweek flight, with Tuesday being the least busy option.
Similarly, try booking flights that depart before or after the airport’s peak time, between 8 AM and 9 PM. In general, evening flights tend to be the least busy.
Your waiting time will also vary depending on the passport control area you use, with Qsensor reporting that:
- Passport Control 4 tends to be the slowest overall, with a peak wait time of 110 minutes and an average of 18 minutes.
- Passport Control 2 and 3 have a maximum wait time of 80 minutes, with averages of around 13 and 11 minutes, respectively.
- While Passport Control 1 also sees maximum wait times of 80 minutes, it’s generally the swiftest overall, with an average wait time of just 8 minutes.
Most people will still breeze through (for now)
While peak waiting times might sound a tad alarming, Qsensor states that for the majority of travellers, “the experience has been much smoother.”
In fact, 68% of people flying via Schiphol are processed in under 15 minutes, with July’s average waiting time sitting at just 12 minutes. Annoying, but certainly not a two-hour wait!
However, that may be subject to change come September.
Right now, the Dutch Marechaussee (border police) has the flexibility to temporarily pause EES registration if passport queues grow too long. When September rolls around, that flexibility ends.
It’s uncertain whether future extensions to EES registration are planned, so it’s worth factoring wait times into your travel plans — or opting for flights when Schiphol is least busy.
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