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We are flying to Alicante next Saturday and wanted to ask if the new security system is up and running and are there any hold up's? Thanks for any information. Alan
Ajp wrote on Mon Jan 12, 2026 3:06pm:
We are flying to Alicante next Saturday and wanted to ask if the new security system is up and running and are there any hold up's? Thanks for any information. Alan
Hi Ajp,
He is a link to thread from this forum from December that might give you some information
EES at Alicante airport
it hasn’t been updated since the 17th December but I am sure some of the members who have traveled through Alicante airport recently will be able to add to this.
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2026 5:38pm
Legendary helpful member
As PedroB says there have not been many, if any, updates on here re EES issues. It would be useful if you could post about your experience once you have been through the airport. It's not clear what percentage of arrivals are going through the registration kiosk's or being allowed to bypass them.
Article from the Euro Weekly dated 18/12/25:
Not positive news. I have read a couple of similar stories but as I have been away over the Xmas/New Year period I have not kept up-to-date with EU news. I was speaking with friends who went through Turin airport late December and their experience was similar to what's detailed in the article above, so presumably it is EU wide.
Hopefully you will have minimal delays!
Rgds,
Aitch.
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2026 10:42am
Super helpful member
Hi
I know a few people who've passed through Alicante airport recently and they've not had any significant delays. The staff seem to have overcome teething problems.
Cheers
Steve
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2026 11:09am
Hello,we arrived at Alicante Aeropuerto Sat 3rd Jan,the new machines were open,first time for me,my face was scanned,then four digits of right hand also,then went to the usual facial recognition scanner,then to the booth for passport to be stamped.My wife,along with quite a few others had to go to another booth for passport to be stamped as their facial recognition didnt work,then to the usual scanner,hope this makes sense.On return to U.K Sat 10th,my wife had to go to the new machines which are on the left, before you turn right for the " B" section departures to do face and hand which worked this time.Not sure if you have to use both scanners once registered in the future,and the stamping of passport will be fazed out.
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Thank you all for the information given its much appreciated. Alan.
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2026 3:24pm
Legendary helpful member
Ray811 wrote on Tue Jan 13, 2026 11:09am:
Hello,we arrived at Alicante Aeropuerto Sat 3rd Jan,the new machines were open,first time for me,my face was scanned,then four digits of right hand also,then went to the usual facial recognition scanner,then to the booth for passport to be stamped.My wife,along with quite a few others had to go t...
Read more...
...o another booth for passport to be stamped as their facial recognition didnt work,then to the usual scanner,hope this makes sense.On return to U.K Sat 10th,my wife had to go to the new machines which are on the left, before you turn right for the " B" section departures to do face and hand which worked this time.Not sure if you have to use both scanners once registered in the future,and the stamping of passport will be fazed out.
Sounds like the process is working okay. Passports will be stamped until the end of the implementation period, which is April 10th, this is a backup in case of system problems.
Not sure how the scanners will be used once EES registration is complete, I would think just a facial and a passport scan for comparison with the stored details, arriving and departing.
Aitch.
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2026 11:14am
Helpful member
Ajp wrote on Mon Jan 12, 2026 3:06pm:
We are flying to Alicante next Saturday and wanted to ask if the new security system is up and running and are there any hold up's? Thanks for any information. Alan
Hi we returned to the UK from Alicante airport on 9th January. Since the new system started we have flown in and out of Spain twice. Both times we have scanned our passport on the new machines which only took waits of 10 minutes each, however both times the machine did not ask us to scan our fingerprints and instead simply asked us to go to to the E-gates to scan our passport before presenting same to the police booth. It seems the system is not at all consistent in approach yet.
On our recent departure on 9th January, the E gate scanners were working very sporadically and to get through these and scan our passports to our gate took over 45 minutes.
I would strongly recommend at the moment that folks allow extra time for that last stage of getting through passport control, as it seems it can be a very slow and painful process. We were quite worried that our gate for boarding would close before we got through.
😎
Ray811 wrote on Tue Jan 13, 2026 11:09am:
Hello,we arrived at Alicante Aeropuerto Sat 3rd Jan,the new machines were open,first time for me,my face was scanned,then four digits of right hand also,then went to the usual facial recognition scanner,then to the booth for passport to be stamped.My wife,along with quite a few others had to go t...
Read more...
...o another booth for passport to be stamped as their facial recognition didnt work,then to the usual scanner,hope this makes sense.On return to U.K Sat 10th,my wife had to go to the new machines which are on the left, before you turn right for the " B" section departures to do face and hand which worked this time.Not sure if you have to use both scanners once registered in the future,and the stamping of passport will be fazed out.
I suppose if you have Residencia it will always be to see the police officer in the booth?
Posted: Thu Jan 15, 2026 4:18pm
Legendary helpful member
Rosei2201 wrote on Wed Jan 14, 2026 11:14am:
Hi we returned to the UK from Alicante airport on 9th January. Since the new system started we have flown in and out of Spain twice. Both times we have scanned our passport on the new machines which only took waits of 10 minutes each, however both times the machine did not ask us to scan our fing...
Read more...
...erprints and instead simply asked us to go to to the E-gates to scan our passport before presenting same to the police booth. It seems the system is not at all consistent in approach yet.
On our recent departure on 9th January, the E gate scanners were working very sporadically and to get through these and scan our passports to our gate took over 45 minutes.I would strongly recommend at the moment that folks allow extra time for that last stage of getting through passport control, as it seems it can be a very slow and painful process. We were quite worried that our gate for boarding would close before we got through.
😎
Bit worring, makes me wonder how many travellers are actually getting registered on the system. If they have not taken finger prints then you will not be registered. Possibly the problems with EES implementation is the reason for changing the ETIAS rollout plans announced by the EU yesterday.
Rgds,
Aitch.
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