Overview
- Ryanair on July 15–17 expanded warnings for holidaymakers to expect long passport queues at 15 to 16 airports across Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Poland and Hungary and urged travellers to allow extra time.
- Industry and airlines blame the delays on the Entry/Exit System’s malfunctioning self-service kiosks, slow biometric registration of first-time arrivals (photo and fingerprints) and insufficient border booths or staff to handle peak volumes.
- Airlines and several member states are pushing the European Commission to extend emergency EES flexibilities beyond the current early-September window into early 2027 to avoid summer travel disruption.
- National authorities defend the system on security grounds, with France reporting more than 110 million recorded entries and exits and over 44,000 entry refusals while adding staff and using the legal flexibility to limit congestion.
- The rollout has already delayed related projects such as ETIAS, now reported pushed to 2027, and prompted travellers to use independent queue‑prediction tools and contingency plans to avoid missed flights and lost tourism revenue.