This summer is an odd one for business travel. The destinations on everyone’s calendar are the usual mix of European capitals and a few Gulf hubs, but two things changed the ground rules. Europe’s new biometric border system went fully live in April, and the World Cup is running across 16 cities in North America until mid-July. Both mean more people, longer lines, and tighter connections at exactly the airports business travelers use most. That is the short version of why an airport meet and greet service has shifted from a nice perk to something a lot of frequent flyers are now booking on purpose. Here is where people are flying this season, what to expect when they land, and how to keep the airport from eating your schedule.

Europe is open for business, but the border works differently now

Since April 10, 2026, the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) has been fully operational across all 29 Schengen countries. For US passport holders, the practical change is simple. The first time you cross an external Schengen border, you give fingerprints and a facial scan instead of getting your passport stamped. It is a one-time registration meant to make later trips faster, but the rollout has been uneven. Travelers have reported slower lines in Italy, France, and Germany, and France’s automated Parafe gates still do not read US passports, so Americans go through manual processing.

One detail catches people off guard: EES happens at your first point of entry into the Schengen area, not at your final destination. If you connect through Frankfurt on the way to Milan, you register in Frankfurt. That makes tight layovers riskier than they were a year ago. (Worth noting for planning: ETIAS, the separate pre-travel authorization, is not live yet and is expected later in 2026, so there is nothing to apply for before you fly right now.)

Here is where business and VIP travelers are heading in Europe this summer:

• London (LHR). The UK is not in Schengen, so there is no EES here, but Heathrow is still the busiest transatlantic business gateway and it runs at capacity through the summer.
• Paris (CDG). Schengen plus EES plus gates that do not read US passports. This is one of the higher-friction arrivals for Americans right now.
• Frankfurt (FRA). Germany’s corporate hub and a major connecting point, which means it doubles as the EES checkpoint for a lot of travelers heading elsewhere.
• Amsterdam (AMS). A classic connection city, which now also makes it a classic place to get stuck in a biometric queue.
• Milan and Rome. Strong for both business and luxury travel, and among the airports where arrival delays have been reported.
• Zurich and Geneva. Finance and private wealth keep these two busy no matter the season.

The World Cup turned 16 cities into pressure points

The 2026 World Cup runs from June 11 to July 19 across 11 US cities, three in Mexico, and two in Canada, with 104 matches and 48 teams. For business travelers, the issue is not the football. It is that host city airports are absorbing a wave of fans on top of normal summer traffic, and that wave moves city to city as the tournament progresses.

Miami hosts a quarterfinal on July 11 at Hard Rock Stadium, and the final lands in the New York and New Jersey area on July 19, which makes the back half of the tournament the tightest stretch of all. If your work travel runs through any of these cities, build in extra margin:

• United States: New York and New Jersey, Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, plus Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Francisco, and Kansas City.
• Mexico: Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.
• Canada: Toronto and Vancouver.

The practical takeaway is to check whether your travel dates overlap with a match in your arrival or departure city. A normal Tuesday at the airport and a match-day Tuesday are not the same trip.

The hubs that never really slow down

Not every summer trip runs through Europe or a World Cup city. A few destinations stay busy year round and belong on any business travel list:

• Dubai (DXB). Heat aside, Dubai does not slow down, and it connects naturally to onward travel across the Gulf and into Asia.
• Singapore (SIN). Still the main gateway for business into Southeast Asia, and one of the smoother large airports to move through.
• Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Both keep climbing as corporate destinations as more companies open regional offices in the region.

Where an airport meet and greet service actually changes your day

An airport meet and greet service earns its place exactly where this summer gets messy: the long arrival hall, the biometric registration line, the connection you are about to miss. A good service meets you at the aircraft door or the curb, walks you through immigration and security using the fastest available lanes, handles your luggage, and has your car ready when you step out. Some travelers know this as an airport concierge service, and the name varies by provider, but the job is the same.

Picture two real scenarios from this season. You land at Frankfurt for EES registration before a same-day connection to Milan, with ninety minutes to make it. Or you arrive in Miami the week of a World Cup quarterfinal, into a terminal moving twice its usual volume. In both cases, the airport portion is where the day goes wrong or stays on track. That is the whole point of meet and greet and fast track support: it turns the unpredictable part of the trip into the part you do not have to think about.

For VIP airport assistance specifically, the value is less about luxury and more about control. You know when you will clear the border. You know your bags are handled. You know your meeting is still in reach. In a summer where the border rules changed and the crowds doubled in a dozen cities, that certainty is the actual product.

Plan the ground part now, not at the gate

If your summer schedule touches any of the airports above, it is worth deciding now how you want the ground portion of each trip to go, rather than improvising at arrivals. Royal Airport Concierge arranges fast track or expedite, meet and greet, and full VIP airport assistance at airports worldwide, so the border lines and the World Cup crowds become someone else’s job to manage.

Tell us where you’re flying this summer, and we’ll handle the airport.