Ryanair urging all European international locations to axe EES as new guidelines inflicting journey nightmare and main queues for Brits

The new Entry/Exit system was fully rolled out last month and since its introduction across Europe travellers have been battling long airport queues and chaos. 

Commonly called the EES, the process is an automated digital border system for non-EU nationals, including UK citizens, entering the Schengen Area, which includes most of the EU, plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Travellers are now required to register biometric details, including fingerprints and photographs. 

The new system is operating in 29 European countries and countless holidaymakers have experienced problems as a result, with it creating long queues and even causing some to miss their flights.

But, having seen the chaos it has already caused, Ryanair has now called for all of the countries using the EES to temporarily scrap the system.

The budget Irish carrier has written to the governments of all 29 countries and urged for them to suspend the EES until September to help manage queues during the peak summer season.

Regarding Spain, which has been particularly impacted by the system, Ryanair said: ‘Despite knowing for over three years that the European Airport System (EES) would be fully operational by April 10, 2026, Spanish authorities have failed to ensure adequate staffing, system readiness, or the installation of kiosks.’  

Alicante Airport is one of Spain‘s busiest hubs and the country’s police union recently reported the airport is being pushed to ‘breaking point’ over the EES system and lack of staff, according to the Olive Press. 

Meanwhile Málaga Airport has also been impacted and a British holidaymaker was left stranded in the hub with her daughter after missing her flight.

Michelle Maguire, 38, and her daughter were due to fly back from Malaga to Liverpool but did not make it home until 24 hours later after getting held up in travel chaos which eventually cost the family £1,000.

The airline explained how waiting times are over one to two hours at many airports including Málaga, Alicante, Lanzarote, Tenerife South, Gran Canaria, Reus, and Fuerteventura.

In its statement on Italy, Ryanair reveals queues have been particularly bad in Bergamo, Malpensa, Fiumicino, Ciampino, Venice, Turin, Palermo, Pisa, and Naples.

Meanwhile, in France, there have been long queues at Beauvais, Marseille, and Nantes airports. 

It blames a combination of staff shortages and system outages for causing the disruptions. 

Neal McMahon, Chief Operations Officer of Ryanair, said: ‘Governments across Europe are trying to implement a half-baked computer system in the middle of the peak travel season of the year, and passengers are paying the price, being forced to endure queues of several hours at passport control and, in some cases, missing their flights.

‘The solution is simple and already provided for in EU legislation (Regulation (EU) 2025/1534): governments should suspend the EES until September, when the peak summer travel season has subsided, as Greece has done. 

‘This would allow passengers – many of whom are traveling with families with young children – to enjoy a smoother airport experience during their summer holidays.’

Some countries have already been responding to the challenges created by the EES, including Spain where in a bid to tackle the chaos and make things easier for families and those with disabilities, hubs have brought in some new rules.

AENA, the Spanish airport authority, has requested that workers help vulnerable passengers and families with young children avoid the queues.

Passengers that have recently travelled to Barcelona-El Prat Airport at peak hours have reportedly experienced lengthy queues.

On Reddit, a parent shared how they were forced to stand in line with their crying children for more than three hours with ‘nowhere to go other than the restroom’, while alleging airport staff did ‘nothing to help’.

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, was Spain’s first hub to have rolled out the EES system in October 2025, and it appears EES queues are more controlled than at other Spanish hubs. 

Many passengers have reported short queues, with priority lines for children, although some claim that machines at the Madrid airport can be ‘sensitive’.

One person told told The Olive Press: ‘You have to press down hard on the passport for it to read, press fingertips down firmly to register.’

However, another said: ‘From luggage drop-off to gate, it took us about 20 minutes … including biometric capture and passport control.’ 

Holidaymakers that fall under such category will be allowed to skip the biometric machines if the line is longer than 25 minutes, and head straight to passport control instead, The Sun reported. 

Elsewhere, Greece recently pulled the plug on fingerprinting and facial scans to help holidaymakers avoid the chaos.

Eleni Skarveli, director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, said the decision would ‘ensure a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece’ and would ‘significantly reduce waiting times’ while easing congestion at airports. 

Greece’s decision is widely seen as a strategic move to protect its vital tourism sector, which relies heavily on British visitors flocking to hotspots such as Corfu, Crete and Rhodes – destinations that can each receive more than 2,000 UK arrivals per day during peak season.

With no confirmed end date for the exemption, speculation is mounting that other Mediterranean countries could follow suit.

Travel experts say the change may already be influencing holiday plans.

A spokesman for ABTA noted: ‘Because of the war in the Middle East, Europe is seeing a big increase in interest as a holiday destination this year.’

The organisation expects Greece to rank as the fifth most popular destination for Britons this summer, behind Spain, France, Italy and the United States.

‘I think it’s too early to say what this change might mean for the number of people visiting, particularly as decisions on where to go are based on a number of factors,’ the spokesman added.