British families heading from Newcastle and Manchester airports to Europe this summer are being warned to brace for major queues at passport control, as new EU border checks bite.
The EU's new entry/exit system (EES) was rolled out further earlier this year, meaning non-EU nationals travelling in Europe are now required to provide personal data, have their fingerprints scanned, and a photograph taken.
Now, Ryanair has issued a fresh warning over the EES wait times, claiming the system is not ready for the school summer holiday travel period.
The budget airline is again calling on European governments to suspend the rollout of EES until September, when the busiest travel period has passed.
Ryanair warns Brits of 6-hour queues at 7 holiday hotspots
Ryanair warns that the infrastructure is not ready to manage high passenger volumes expected during summer.
This is due to insufficient staff, kiosks and system readiness.
It lists seven experiencing "major disruptions", with some seeing queues of up to six hours, and with further congestion expected during the busiest weeks in summer.
The airports highlighted are:
- Tenerife South
- Palma
- Alicante
- Malaga
- Milan Bergamo
- Krakow
- Paris Beauvais
Ryanair is advising passengers to arrive at airports earlier due to the increased queues at passport control.
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.
"Ryanair calls on European governments once again to delay the implementation to protect passengers, families and airport operations during the school holiday rush, instead of forcing holidaymakers to endure needless passport control chaos."
It is not the first time major airlines have called for the rollout to be suspended.
Following Greece delaying the EES rollout previously, Jet2 CEO, Steve Heapy, said: “We applaud the Greek authorities for acting in the best interests of UK holidaymakers.
"Our customers work and save very hard for their holidays, and we will always do everything in our power to ensure they have the very best experience when they travel with us.
"We believe that pausing EES checks, until systems and processes are ready, will result in a much better experience for our customers and we are pleased to see that the Greek authorities agree.
"We expect a quick response in terms of demand for holidays to Greece as a result of this move, and we urge other countries to follow this common-sense approach and put holidaymakers first.”
CEO of Ryanair’s Malta subsidiary, Malta Air, David O’Brien, previously threatened to pull all flights to Malta due to the extended wait times caused by the EES at airports.
Brits should be preapred for disruption
Nicole Kerr, chief executive of transport platform Mozio, said holidaymakers should be prepared for potential disruption.
"UK searches for 'summer holiday deals' have increased by 123% in the past three months, as Brits look to secure their travel plans ahead of peak season," she said.
"While a holiday is meant to be a relaxing and stress-free experience, experts have warned that changes to the travel industry could cause delays and confusion."
She said the new Entry/Exit System was likely to be one of the biggest challenges facing travellers this summer.
"Passengers travelling to European airports will now have to use the new European Entry/Exit System, which requires biometric data, such as fingerprints and a facial image.
"While the new system is expected to reduce wait times at passport control in the future, Brits have already experienced long delays as the rollout continues."
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She also warned that delays may not end when passengers leave the terminal.
"Alongside these procedures, travellers will inevitably be met with other challenges which could cause delays, such as airport strikes and long taxi queues when leaving the terminal," Ms Kerr said.
"In 2025, travellers reported long taxi queues at airports across popular tourist destinations, including the Canary Islands."
Have you been caught in any travel queues due to the new EES? Let us know in the comments.
