Clarissa Ward, journalist, on chaos at European airports: “Truly, this system is completely broken”

Summer is peak travel season and for anyone that has to catch a flight, especially an international one, you are most likely dreading the thought of standing in long lines to get through security checkpoints. A recent change to E.U. entry and exit rules has thrown a wrench in the works of getting non-European passport holders through custom and border control.

The gravity of the situation was highlighted by CNN reporter Clarrisa Ward in a video she posted on social media from the international airport in Lisbon, Portugal. “I stood in the longest line I have ever seen in my life (no joke),” she said in the comments section.

Travelers to the E.U. “going through complete insanity”

The European Union began phasing in the new Entry/Exit System (EES) rules in October and it was to become fully operational at airports on April 10, 2026 to enforce external borders for the 29 European countries in the Schengen Area, which allows passport-free travel between member states.

The intention of the new system is to replace traditional passport stamping with a centralized digital record using biometric data collection to track travelers entering and leaving the area. The idea was that it would make the process smoother and faster, but the initial results were anything but.

As can be seen in Ward’s video, the situation in Lisbon has travelers “going through complete insanity.” The lines stretch on and on taking hours to get through and resulting in thousands of people missing their flights.

“I want you to take a look at this line here in Lisbon airport to leave the country. It is quite honestly astonishing and testimony to just what a disaster these new EES rules are regarding all passport holders who are not from the European Union,” she comments while filming the seemingly endless line. “Truly, this system is completely broken,” she added.

Lisbon appears to be an outlier

There were initially several reports of hours’ long lines and confusion at many international airports. However, from a quick search online and across social media it appears that the situation Ward experienced in Lisbon is becoming increasingly an exception to the norm.

As a matter of fact, several comments said that the experience was even more pleasant than having to get one’s passport stamped and just took a matter of minutes. However, slightly longer waits were reported when there was a crush of arrivals, as one might expect.

Additionally, on May 2, the European Commission authorized member states to pause fingerprint-and-facial-capture requirements during surges at check points to move people through faster. French authorities took advantage of this as thousands of travelers face long delays in the heat at the port of Dover to catch a ferry across the Channel to pass the holiday weekend.

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