Airport disruptions could worsen in 2025 with the introduction of fingerprint checks at the EU border and new hand luggage liquid rules, experts have warned.
Passenger numbers are expected to exceed five billion globally for the first time next year – but changes to airport regulations could make travel “more challenging and time-consuming” for UK passengers.
The EU’s Entry Exit System (EES) is set to be implemented in 2025, requiring third-country travellers to register their biometric details the first time they visit one of the 29 European countries using it.
The rollout has been delayed multiple times since 2022 due to concerns about the readiness of fingerprint and face-scanning technology.
While the automated system is intended to speed up border checks, early disruption is expected as technical issues are ironed out.
The UK’s largest airports are also set to lift the 100ml limit on hand luggage liquids in the new year, raising the prospect of lengthy queues at security as staff and passengers adjust to the new rules.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, CEO of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “While predicting air travel patterns in 2025 remains complex due to various global, economic, and technological factors, we can confidently anticipate continued growth in demand.
“The implementation of new liquid rules and the biometric entry-exit system for non-EU member state travellers is anticipated to launch in 2025.
“This significant rollout across member states could potentially disrupt passenger journeys as local border forces adapt to new regulations and security procedures.
“The EU’s apparent preference for a Spring 2025 launch coincides unfortunately with the start of peak summer holidays for UK passengers.
“These ambitious changes, designed to enhance passenger experience and border security, may initially make air travel to the EU more challenging and time-consuming.”
Replacing the manual stamping of passports, EES checks will see travellers from non-EU countries register their biometric information the first time they enter a member state, with the details stored on a database for three years.
The technology is to be introduced at airports, road borders, ports and train stations.
In October, the European Commission announced that the most recent target date, 10 November, would be missed due to concerns about the system’s “resilience”.
According to the EU, the EES will modernise the management of its external borders, gradually improving the experience of travellers, but the bloc admits that it may initially lead to longer processing times, as border staff and the public familiarise themselves with the technology.
“Undoubtedly there will be issues in 2025, they can’t be avoided,” John Grant, an aviation consultant, told The i Paper.
“We could have to contend with the new biometric entry requirements to the EU and subsequent delays as passengers get used to those.”
Similar to the the EES, the implementation of new rules governing the amount of liquid passengers are allowed to carry in hand luggage have been delayed repeatedly.
After a foiled terror attack in 2006, restrictions were introduced requiring all liquids, gels, aerosols, creams and pastes to be stored in containers of 100ml or less.
Three years ago, airports were set a deadline of June 2024 to install new 3D security scanners that would enable the 100ml limit to be lifted.
While seven smaller airports – including London City, Newcastle and Aberdeen – met the deadline, the UK’s four busiest hubs – London Gatwick, Heathrow, Stansted and Manchester – failed to install the new technology in time.
The complying airports were initially given approval by the regulator to lift the limit, only for the Department of Transport to reverse its decision in mid-June, announcing that “further improvements” were needed.
Grant said: “The CAA permitted the 100ml and then at a moment’s notice went back to the old requirements, leaving airports frustrated and disillusioned at the whole process.”
It remains unclear when the 100ml limit rule will be lifted again, with the DFT currently advising travellers to check the rules at each of their departure and return airports before travelling.
Gatwick said it expects to install the remaining scanners in the first three months of 2025. Heathrow, Stansted and Manchester have been vaguer, aiming to complete the process by the end of the next year.
The new technology is expected to speed up security checks and reduce queues in the long-run, enabling liquids to remain in luggage during screening, rather than having to be removed and placed in plastic bags.
However, there are concerns that delays in the rollout and the variation in rules across airports could leave travellers confused, causing hold-ups at security.
The technology also remains untested at the UK’s largest hubs, with the 100ml rule only having been lifted briefly at smaller airports so far.
Extreme weather has also caused significant disruption for air travellers this year, with hundreds of flights across the UK grounded by Storms Bert and Darragh in recent months.
Grant suggested that the situation could worsen in 2025, as climate change drives increasingly unstable weather patterns across the world.
He said: “Weather disruption is certainly increasing as we see a greater impact, not just in the UK but overseas with events like Palma Airport being flooded in torrential downpours or further afield fog and smog in places such as Delhi or tropical storms/hurricanes in the Caribbean and Florida.”
With demand expected to reach record levels in 2025, airport and airline capacity could also be stretched, leading to further delays and cancellations.
The International Air Travel Association (IATA), the industry’s top lobby group, said it expects passenger numbers to hit 5.2 billion, a 6.7 per cent increase on 2024 and an all-time high.
John Strickland, who runs JLS Consulting, said: “We have seen airlines investing in additional spare aircraft and crew capacity to help smooth out and minimise disruptions when problems do occur.”
He added: “A number of airlines face ongoing challenges with late aircraft deliveries and groundings, keeping capacity tighter than might otherwise be the case.”
