Ryanair and Berlin Airport Warn of Summer Travel Chaos as EU Border System Stalls
Ryanair and the chief executive of Berlin Airport have sounded the alarm over what they describe as imminent disruption to summer travel, blaming the European Union's new digital border control system for worsening delays at airports across the continent.
The airline urged governments to postpone the Entry-Exit System (EES) until after the summer holiday period, warning that families in particular could face “queue chaos” as the system struggles to handle peak passenger volumes.
Aletta von Massenbach, CEO of Berlin Airport, told the BBC that non-EU nationals were already waiting up to two hours to clear passport control under the new system. She said the situation was “not bearable over the summer” and called for urgent action from EU authorities.
Under the EES, travelers from outside the bloc — including British and American citizens — must register fingerprints and facial biometrics when entering most European countries, with the data checked again on departure. The system is designed to modernize border security and eventually speed up travel, but its rollout has been plagued by technical glitches and inconsistent implementation across member states.
Von Massenbach noted that at one Berlin terminal used by Ryanair and Wizz Air, waiting times ranged from “an hour to two hours” during peak periods. She pointed to a fundamental flaw: different EU countries are running separate subsystems, creating complexity that “doesn't really support smooth processing at the border.”
Ryanair's chief operations officer, Neal McMahon, said: “Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer.”
The airline listed several airports experiencing major disruptions, including Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Krakow and Paris Beauvais. The head of Europe's airports trade body earlier described worries over the EES as keeping industry executives awake at night.
While the system has been fully operational since April, reports of long waits at passport control have become routine, especially during peak hours. Some passengers say they have missed flights home because of the delays.
At the Port of Dover, where French border checks take place on UK soil, technical issues have prevented the EES from being deployed. A new processing area with 84 kiosks designed to record fingerprints and photographs remains unused because the French authorities have not been able to activate the technology. Port of Dover chief executive Doug Bannister told MPs last week that “time is rapidly running out” to fix the problem, adding that the start of the critical summer period is approaching without the necessary assurances.
One traveler, Anne Robinson from Dunbarton, Scotland, shared her first-hand experience with the EES in June. She and her 13-year-old son Jack missed their flight home from Rome because of the system. After a 90-minute queue just to enter Rome upon arrival, they arrived at the airport three-and-a-half hours early for their return flight. But Robinson said most of the EES machines were out of order, leading to another 90-minute wait that caused them to miss the flight. They had to pay £250 for a replacement flight two days later, which their travel insurance did not cover. “I'm not going back to Europe this year,” she said. “That was too stressful.”
Industry groups, including Airlines UK and Airlines for America, said the EES rollout had been inconsistent. They called on the European Commission and member states to take a pragmatic look at whether the current timeline is realistic, especially with peak summer travel approaching. Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy said the continued pursuit of a policy that has clearly not been implemented robustly was “baffling,” and suggested pausing EES checks where systems are not ready.
Von Massenbach said a “very high level meeting in Brussels” on Wednesday indicated growing recognition from EU officials that “this is a situation that is not bearable, not bearable over the summer.”
Airports lobby group ACI Europe wrote to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, claiming wait times at border control had already reached up to five hours in peak traffic periods and could worsen as the busiest weeks approach. The group warned that “airlines face half-empty planes at gate closing time, while passengers are stuck in border control queues.”
A European Commission spokesman acknowledged the issues but said “all efforts are being made to limit the impact of EES on travelers from outside the EU.” He added that where problems persisted, member states had not provided sufficient border guards, infrastructure or automated equipment. The EC plans to meet with aviation industry representatives next week to discuss the system.