Cyprus Airports Are Getting E-Gates—Here’s What It Could Mean for Your Next Holiday
If you’ve ever landed in Cyprus during the height of summer, you’ll know the feeling. You step off the aircraft, the sun is shining, and your holiday is tantalisingly close. Then you arrive at passport control and find half the passengers from the UK standing in front of you.
That part of the journey could soon become a little easier. Cyprus is planning to install automated passport-control gates at both Paphos and Larnaca airports by the end of 2026. Known as ABC gates—or simply e-gates—they will replace the electronic passport scanners currently used at the two airports and give Cyprus Automated Passport Control. It’s more than a straightforward equipment upgrade. The change is also connected to preparations for Cyprus Schengen Membership.
What’s actually changing?
The passport scanners currently used at Paphos and Larnaca airports were originally chosen because they take up less room. That matters when you’re trying to process thousands of passengers through two relatively compact airport terminals.
The problem is that they aren’t fully automated.
Although the scanner reads your passport, a border-control officer still has to make the final check before you can enter Cyprus. The new ABC gates will handle much more of that process automatically.
They use biometric technology to compare the photograph stored in your passport with a live image of your face. The system can also check your travel document and connect with the relevant border and security databases.
If everything matches, the gate opens and you’re through, “Cyprus Automated Passport Control”.
Justice Minister Costas Fitiris said Cyprus Schengen Membership and the new gates should be installed at both airports by the end of 2026. He also noted that they could be particularly useful when fewer passport-control officers are available.
Does this mean shorter queues?
Hopefully, yes—but it’s worth keeping expectations realistic.
No airport technology can guarantee that you’ll walk straight through passport control, especially when several flights land close together on a busy summer afternoon.
What e-gates can do is process several eligible passengers at the same time. That takes pressure off the staffed desks and allows border officers to focus on anyone who needs help or requires additional checks, resulting in Automated Passport Control.
For visitors flying into Paphos or Larnaca, that could mean less time standing inside the terminal and more time getting on with the holiday.
And let’s be honest. After a long flight with children, suitcases and everyone asking how much longer it will be, even ten or fifteen minutes can feel like a gift.
New automated passport-control gates are planned for Paphos and Larnaca airports, promising a quicker and smoother arrival for eligible travellers.
Why e-gates could make a real difference
There are quite a few potential benefits:
- Quicker passport checks: Facial recognition and automated document checks can process eligible travellers faster.
- More passengers moving at once: Several gates can operate side by side, which should help during busy arrival periods.
- Less pressure on border officers: Staff can concentrate on security concerns, unusual cases and passengers who need personal assistance.
- Consistent checks: The same verification process is applied to everyone using the system.
- Stronger identity verification: The gate compares the biometric information in the passport with the person standing in front of it.
- Continuous operation: E-gates can remain in use around the clock with relatively limited supervision.
- Direct access to border systems: The technology can connect with immigration records, security databases and watchlists.
- Less document handling: Most of the process is completed without passing your passport to an officer.
- Room to expand: Airports can add more gates as passenger numbers grow, provided the terminal layout allows it.
- Possible long-term savings: Over time, lower staffing and operating costs may help offset the price of installing the equipment.
Who will be able to use the new gates?
This is the big question, and we don’t have a final answer yet.
The Cyprus authorities still need to decide which passengers will be allowed to use the gates. Eligibility may depend on your nationality, age, passport type and where your journey began.
Having a biometric passport won’t necessarily mean you can use them.
That’s especially relevant for British visitors. The UK is outside the Schengen area, so passengers arriving from Britain will still need to pass through external border control even if Cyprus becomes a full Schengen member.
Whether British biometric-passport holders will be allowed to use the new gates is still to be confirmed. It’s certainly possible, but it would be unwise to present it as settled until the official operating rules are published.
For now, UK passengers should follow the existing arrival procedures and allow enough time to clear passport control.
What does Schengen have to do with it?
Quite a lot.
Cyprus already takes part in some areas of Schengen cooperation, but full border-free travel arrangements don’t yet apply. Passport checks are still carried out on people arriving from other Schengen countries.
The European Commission has given a positive assessment of Cyprus’s preparations. The next stage is at European level, where the country’s full admission must receive the necessary unanimous approval. Cyprus can prepare for membership, but it can’t make the final decision by itself.
The Schengen area currently includes 29 countries: 25 EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
Cyprus is still working towards full membership. Ireland remains outside the main border-free arrangements under its existing opt-out.
If Cyprus joins fully, routine passport controls could eventually be removed from flights arriving from other Schengen countries.
That wouldn’t apply to flights from the UK.
British passengers—and anyone else arriving from outside the Schengen area—would still go through border control. The difference is that eligible travellers might be able to complete those checks at an automated gate instead of a staffed desk.
Will the e-gates eventually be removed?
Some of them may be moved or used differently.
Once Cyprus becomes part of the Schengen area, passport control would no longer be needed for most passengers arriving from other Schengen countries. The gates could then be concentrated in the areas handling flights from outside Schengen.
So, the technology wouldn’t suddenly become redundant. It would simply be used where passport checks are still required.
What could this mean for holidays in Paphos and Coral Bay?
Paphos Airport is the starting point for thousands of holidays in Coral Bay, Peyia, the Akamas Peninsula and across the wider Paphos region.
At busy times, passport control can become one of the slowest parts of the arrival process. Even a modest improvement would be welcome—particularly for families, older passengers and anyone arriving after a long or delayed flight.
Faster processing could ease congestion, shorten queues and make the first hour in Cyprus feel a lot less stressful.
It also sends the right message. Cyprus is modernising the point where many visitors get their very first impression of the island.
The sunshine, beaches and villa pool are already waiting. Getting to them a little sooner would be no bad thing.
Coral Bay Holiday Villas jet soaring above Cyprus’s stunning coastline.
Your questions answered
When will the e-gates arrive at Paphos and Larnaca airports?
The plan is to install them by the end of 2026. An exact date hasn’t been announced.
Will everyone be able to use them?
Probably not. The authorities still need to confirm the eligible nationalities, age groups and passport types.
Can British travellers use the new Cyprus e-gates?
We don’t know yet. British visitors will still need to pass through border control because the UK is outside Schengen. Whether eligible UK biometric-passport holders will be allowed to use the automated gates remains to be confirmed.
Is Cyprus already part of Schengen?
Cyprus participates in some Schengen arrangements, but internal border controls haven’t yet been removed. The country is preparing for Cyprus Schengen Membership.
Would Cyprus joining Schengen end passport checks for UK flights?
No. Passengers arriving from the UK would continue to enter through an external Schengen border and would still need to complete passport control.
A small change that could make a welcome difference
The new e-gates won’t make every airport queue disappear. How well they work will depend on the number of gates, who is allowed to use them and how many flights arrive at the same time.
Still, it’s a positive move.
For Cyprus, it’s another step towards modernising border control and preparing for possible Schengen membership. For visitors, it could mean a quicker, calmer start to their holiday, once Cyprus Automated Passport Control is installed in preparation for Cyprus Schengen Membership.
And when your villa, private pool and first cold drink in the sunshine are waiting, every minute saved at the airport counts.