Ryanair issues summer holiday warning and claims seven airports 'aren't ready'
Ryanair has issued an alert to families planning to travel this summer, warning that the European Union's new passport control system is not ready for the peak holiday season. The budget carrier has criticised the Entry Exit System (EES), contending that the system is unprepared for the end-of-term travel rush when millions of families will journey across Europe for their summer breaks.
The airline has urged European governments to postpone the implementation of EES until September to prevent passengers, many travelling with young families, from enduring lengthy passport control delays. Ryanair's intervention follows an open letter published on Wednesday in which leading representative bodies for Europe's airports and airlines declared that disruption caused by EES had reached a critical point.
According to the statement from industry groups ACI Europe, Airlines 4 Europe and the International Air Transport Association, passengers have already been forced to queue for extended periods outside terminal buildings and on exposed aprons because border control facilities cannot process arrivals quickly enough. Airlines face half-empty planes at gate closing time while passengers are stuck in border control queues. The organisations alleged that certain aircraft have been forced to postpone departure while awaiting passengers and that queues are extending to five hours during busy periods.
Recently, massive passport and security queues at Athens Airport resulted in passengers missing their Ryanair flights, even before the EES gates were operational. The checks may involve scanning passports, submitting fingerprints and capturing a facial image. Ryanair has maintained that current infrastructure is not ready to manage high passenger volumes during peak season due to insufficient staff, kiosks and system readiness.
Airports such as Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Milan, Bergamo, Krakow and Paris Beauvais are experiencing major disruptions. Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer Neal McMahon stated: "As schools break up and Europe enters the busiest travel period of the year it is clear that EES is still not ready for peak summer volumes. 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."