Photo: Ryanair Ryanair is sharply criticizing several European countries, claiming that they are not prepared to implement the European Union's new border control system, Entry/Exit System (EES), and is calling for it to be suspended until after the summer.
Recall that at the beginning of this month, after a long trial period, the new system began to operate fully at all external border crossings in 29 European countries.
The system, which has been gradually launched since October 2025, will replace passport stamps with advanced digital registration of entries and exits, changing the experience of crossing European borders for millions of travelers.
Ryanair's latest announcement stated that, although it has been known for more than three years that the system is expected to enter full operation starting April 10, 2026, countries such as France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany have not completed the required preparations, both in terms of personnel, system readiness, and the placement of service stations.
According to the company, as a result, passengers experience extremely long lines at border controls, and, in some cases, even miss their flights.
Against this background, the company is calling on European governments to postpone the implementation of the system until September, in order to avoid unusual congestion during the summer season, the busiest period in European aviation.
Since its launch, the system has been heavily criticized by European aviation organizations, ACI EUROPE and Airlines for Europe. According to a joint statement from the two organizations, on the first day of full operation of the Entry/Exit System (EES) in the Schengen area, significant disruptions were recorded at airports across Europe, including long delays, heavy congestion and actual flight cancellations due to passengers arriving late at boarding gates.
Although the European Commission estimated that the average check-in time is about 70 seconds per passenger under optimal conditions, in practice, waiting times of between two and three hours have been reported during rush hours.