Ryanair names airports experiencing the longest queues due to the EES system in summer 2026

Summer travels to Europe may take longer even before boarding the plane. Ryanair has warned that at several popular airports, passengers are forced to wait for hours for document checks due to the new EES border control system. This is reported by The Independent.

The EES system has created the longest queues at European airports

Ryanair stated that some airports are not ready for the tourist influx after the full launch of the Entry/Exit System (EES). The largest delays this summer, according to the carrier, are expected at the following airports:

• Tenerife South (Spain);

• Palma de Mallorca (Spain);

• Alicante (Spain);

• Malaga (Spain);

• Milan Bergamo (Italy);

• Krakow (Poland);

• Paris Beauvais (France).

The company explains that the causes are a shortage of border officers, insufficient biometric check-in kiosks, and the unpreparedness of certain airports for peak tourist flows.

Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer Neil McMahon stated that the EES system “is still not ready for peak summer volumes,” and passengers should not become “guinea pigs” during the testing of the new border control model.

Queues due to EES may reach five hours

EES is a new EU biometric system that automatically registers the entry and exit of third-country citizens. Instead of passport stamps, border officers use facial recognition and fingerprint scanning.

According to The Independent, in spring, airlines and airport operators already requested the European Union to temporarily suspend the EES operations at overloaded border crossings. The reason is straightforward: in July and August, European airports expect approximately 40 million more passengers than in the previous two months combined.

On the busiest days, wait times for border control have already reached five hours. As a result, some passengers missed their flights, and some airplanes departed with empty seats.

At the same time, for those who have already completed biometric check-in in the EES system during previous trips, re-crossing the border takes significantly less time, as they do not need to undergo the full procedure again.

It should be noted that there have been multi-hour queues at European Union airports due to the new EES border control system, which has led to partial filling of flights.