Ryanair has issued a new warning to millions of UK families travelling to 15 European airports this summer. The budget airline said families are likely to encounter lengthy passport queues and airport delays thanks to the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES), which it slammed as a failure months after its introduction.
The EES is an automated digital border control system used by the EU and Schengen Area countries. It replaces traditional passport stamping by digitally registering non-EU travellers’ entry and exit dates, along with biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images.
The affected airports are: Lisbon, Tenerife South, Madrid, Lanzarote, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt Hahn, Krakow and Budapest.
Ryanair urged travellers to allow extra time for their journey if they’re going to and from non-Schengen destinations or transiting through affected European airports.
The airline added that passengers should be prepared for long passport control queues as EES checks may require passport scanning, fingerprint capture, and facial image verification.
Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, said: “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. 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.”
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
