Ryanair has issued a fresh alert to millions of British families heading to 15 European airports this summer. The budget carrier warned travellers are set to face extensive passport queues and airport disruptions due to the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES), which it condemned as unsuccessful months following its launch.
What is the EES?
The EES is an automated digital border management system operated by the EU and Schengen Area nations. It supersedes conventional passport stamping by digitally recording non-EU visitors' arrival and departure dates, alongside biometric information including fingerprints and facial photographs.
The airline pinpointed several of the most severely impacted travel hubs based on sluggish processing speeds and excessive passport control queues for both arrivals and departures, reports the Express.
Affected airports
The impacted airports include: Lisbon, Tenerife South, Madrid, Lanzarote, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt Hahn, Krakow and Budapest.
Ryanair's advice to passengers
Ryanair encouraged passengers to factor in additional time for their trip if travelling to and from non-Schengen destinations or connecting through affected European airports. The carrier added that travellers should anticipate lengthy passport control queues as EES procedures may require passport scanning, fingerprint collection, and facial image authentication.
Criticism from Ryanair's COO
Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, stated: "Families heading away for a well-earned summer holiday should be thinking about suitcases, suncream and sangria, not standing in passport queues for hours. The reality is that the EES system isn't working properly, and families are paying the price for a system that does not work months after launch."
McMahon added: "Passengers should not be the testing ground for unfinished border infrastructure. We support calls from EU Member States to urgently extend the EES flexibilities. This will give airports and border authorities the time to improve the infrastructure, fix the broken devices and hire more staff so that families can travel through Europe without disruption."
