Ryanair has named seven European airports where passengers are experiencing significant delays due to the new EU Entry/Exit System (EES) border checks. The airline warned that these airports are "not ready" to handle summer passenger volumes due to "insufficient staff, kiosks and system readiness."
Affected Airports
The airports highlighted by Ryanair include Tenerife South (Spain), Palma (Spain), Alicante (Spain), Malaga (Spain), Milan Bergamo (Italy), Krakow (Poland), and Paris Beauvais (France). The EES, fully implemented in April, requires travellers from non-EU countries, including the UK, to provide fingerprints and a photograph when entering the 29-country Schengen Area.
Impact on Passengers
The new system has caused long queues, with some travellers reporting missed flights. Ryanair is urging passengers flying between Schengen and non-Schengen destinations to arrive earlier than usual, warning that families "face passport queue chaos."
Call for Suspension
The Dublin-based budget airline has called on European governments to suspend the EES rollout until September to avoid "long and avoidable passport control queues." Ryanair stated it has pressed governments of the most affected countries but received "zero response."
Ryanair’s chief operations officer Neal McMahon said: "As schools break up and Europe enters the busiest travel period of the year, it is clear that EES is still not ready for peak summer volumes. Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer. It is as simple as postponing EES until September, as other EU countries like Greece have already done."
