EES wait times in Paris?

I flew from Minneapolis to Paris-CDG on May 22...then connected to a flight to Slovenia. On that day, the EES kiosks were not being used. Instead, at Immigration I simply placed my passport on scanner and looked at the camera. The process took 2 minutes.

I think the most important thing people are saying is “Don’t dawdle getting off the plane and on to immigration for your connection.” Everyone is experiencing something different at all the European airports including the same airport. How quickly you get through depends on a lot of factors including how many flights come in at the same time, if the EES gates are working, how many passport control officers are on duty. You can’t be assured that someone else’s experience is what you will experience, good or bad.

And I might add that if you haven’t been thru the EES previously, be prepared for them to check your passport, take your picture, take your fingerprints and probably ask a few questions.

I’d second that and add this-we connected in CDG last week coming home. I thought a 2 hour layover would be fine. We barely made our flight and that was with a lot of running. The EES machines were malfunctioning with no attendants to help. Then very long walks only to find we had to bus to the next terminal. Buses were running every 20 minutes! It was hot, people were upset, crowds 20 deep. I’ll avoid CDG as best I can going forward but, failing that, allow at least 3 hours to make a connection.

Even without the possibility of EES and without the 3 kiddos, 1.5 hours for a transit at CDG is a bit tight. A few years ago I timed my transit from my Delta flight's arrival from Seattle to my Air France flight to Milan. I was nearly first off the plane but we had arrived at a tarmac stand so had to take a shuttle bus to the terminal drop off where you start following the yellow Correspondence signs to your new terminal. I walked steadily without a comfort stop and it took me 1h 5minutes from plane door to new gate.

When is the next flight to Munich on the airline you are using?

I think many people have found that EES implementation at CDG is erratic. You WILL go thru security AND passport control/EES after you get to the departure terminal.

Thanks for the insights. It’s a Delta flight with the connection to Munich operated by Hop! There are three later flights that day to Munich so if we miss it, I’m hoping they will be able to rebook us for the next one.

If your connecting flight is on HOP, please check online whether it normally departs from Terminal 2G.

In May, I flew Delta from Minneapolis to CDG Terminal 2E then connected to an Air France Hop small jet flying to Ljubljana, Slovenia from Terminal 2G. I knew in advance that Terminal 2G was a separate building and I would be riding a bus to get there. I prepared by watching a YouTube video on Terminal 2E to Terminal 2G transfers. Based on my recent experience, I think even if the EES kiosks are not being used when you arrive at CDG (which was the case for me on May 22), it will be a very tight connection if your HOP flight is departing from Terminal 2G.

To the OP: most flights are full these days. There are 5 of you. I would not risk availability on a later flight. Plus, with your current connection you will be running, running. Why put yourself through that? Change to a later flight while you can.

Thanks for all the input. We made it! Our flight to Paris arrived 30 minutes early so that gave us 2 hours between the flights and it was just what we needed. Since we were a family we were also ushered to shorter lines.

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out!

Excellent! I, too, am grateful you circled back with an update. It's always good when your plane from the US catches a nice jet stream current and arrives early.

Next time you'll know to pick the itinerary that gives you about 3 hours for a transit time in a European arrival city where you will go thru Immigration.

Just curious as to whether you went thru the EES kiosks when you went thru immigration which took your fingerprints or did they route you around them?

When I arrived in Paris a week ago they re-routed us around them. The agents didn't even look at my passport after I scanned it.

We did need go through the EES, it was a regular passport check by an agent.