We flew from SEA to CDG on May 3, 2026 on Delta. When we arrived at Passport Control in Terminal E, staff were culling passengers based on passports by country. We were directed to a very short line based on our US passports. As we were walking to front of the line we passed 25-30 brand, spanking new EES kiosks, none of which was operational. Just like our visit to CDG last September, we scanned our passports at the E-Gates, had a photo taken, and then were free to enter France. This time around, however, no one was stamping passports. If the EU can’t get EES up and running on a consistent basis, I see no way ETIAS will be operational in the last quarter of 2026, much less any time in 2027.
Posted by
Arlington TX
1015 posts
Interesting….thanks for the update.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
17075 posts
CDG 2E is indeed inconsistent. I came in April 15, was channeled thru the EES kiosks you saw, did not go thru the e-gates and instead saw a border control person who was having to wait (apparently) for the computer to catch up with the information and picture I’d done 10 minutes prior. She did not stamp my passport.
Posted by
Paris
11401 posts
And I came through CDG 2E into Paris on April 28 (last Tuesday) - and didn't even go through the E-Gates — just straight to a French border police officer.
Posted by
Chicago
9647 posts
We came in on Air France from Chicago on April 16 and had a similar experience -- no EES -- just the old e-gates
Posted by
OP
Seattle
406 posts
Wow, at least they’re inconsistently inconsistent.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
17075 posts
“Wow, at least they’re inconsistently inconsistent.”
That made me laugh out loud because it’s so true! I just roll my eyes at all the social media dire warnings about long lines, etc because it is varying so much from time to time! Looking at the recent experiences just on this thread, all coming thru 2E - we’ve got 2 e-gates, 1 no egate or EES kiosk but direct to a person and 1 EES kiosk + border control person.
Yes, inconsistently inconsistent.
BTW the day I came in, some lines in 2E were being channeled thru the e gates but were not going thru the EES registration so there seemed to be a variety of methods in use at one time.
Posted by
Paris
11401 posts
And my experience coming in to Paris (CDG 2E) on April 11 was i was lined up doe the E-Gates and then got pushed (again) towards a PAF officer staffing the booth.
So of my two April entries, at neither one did I even go through the E-Gates, much less use the EES machines......
So, inconsistently consistent, indeed
Posted by
1 posts
Reederman, Thanks for starting this post. All of the information provided by everyone was helpful.
Posted by
OP
Seattle
406 posts
I’ll be very curious to see what happens when we exit the Schengen Area at CDG on 5/14. Will the kiosks be operational then or will it just be a manual check like in the past?
Posted by
San Francisco
16185 posts
Some of all this news is pleasing to me, some of it I am not glad about...we'll see in 3 weeks in CDG.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
17075 posts
As far as the exit experience, I left Wednesday May 6. I had a 10:25A flight so was dreadfully early-probably was 630 when i went thru. I was also flying Delta One so used the entry for that and Sky Priority down the side aisle by the bathrooms. No one in line ahead of me. The EES kiosks were closed with red X’s illuminated. The staff person ushered me to the e-gate. After that the human had a big arrow in front of his window indicating I should proceed to security.
The process to security took less than 3 minutes.
For security I was leaving from M gates so took the tram to that terminal to go through Security. It was pretty fast at maybe 7 minutes.
All in all, I had a very easy time. I hope everyone else has the same exit experience!