Families could face “queue chaos” and miss flights this summer, Ryanair has warned, as the EU’s new digital border system causes long delays at airports across Europe. The airline is urging governments to postpone the Entry-Exit System (EES) until after the summer holiday period, calling it a “half-baked passport control system” that risks creating “unnecessary stress”.
The EES, which has been fully operational since April, requires travellers from outside the EU to register biometric information – fingerprints and photographs – when entering most European countries, with checks repeated on departure. While some airports have reported smooth operation, others have seen persistent long waits at passport control, especially at peak times. Passengers have told the BBC they have missed flights home because of queues.
“Ryanair warns families face 'queue chaos' from EU border system; urges postponement until after summer.”
Aletta von Massenbach, CEO of Berlin Airport, told the BBC’s Today programme that non-EU nationals at one terminal – used by Ryanair and Wizz Air – are queuing for “an hour to two hours”. She warned the situation is “not bearable over the summer”. A key problem, she said, is that different EU countries use different systems. “There are so many sub-systems for each and every member state. We see that the complexity doesn’t really support smooth processing at the border,” she explained.
Ryanair’s chief operations officer, Neal McMahon, said: “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.” The airline listed Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Krakow and Paris Beauvais as airports experiencing major disruptions.
The European Commission says it is willing to offer more support. But at the Port of Dover, where French border checks take place on UK soil, technology issues have prevented the EES from being used at all. A new processing area with 84 kiosks to record fingerprints and photographs is sitting idle because the technology – the responsibility of the French authorities – cannot be activated. Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister told MPs on Thursday that “time is rapidly running out” to fix it. “We are rapidly heading towards the start of the critical summer period and are yet to receive the assurances we need to avoid what has the potential to be a very challenging six weeks,” he said.
Last week, the head of Europe’s airports trade body said worries over the EES were keeping him and other industry bosses awake at night. With summer travel already under strain, the warnings from Ryanair, Berlin Airport and the Port of Dover underscore growing unease that the new system is not ready for peak demand.