URGES EUROPEAN GOVTS TO POSTPONE EES UNTIL SEPTEMBER TO AVOID TRAVEL NIGHTMARE DURING SCHOOL HOLIDAYS

Ryanair, Europe’s No.1 airline, today (Thurs, 2 Jul) warned that the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES) is not ready for the end-of-school-term travel period, as millions of families prepare to travel across Europe for their well-deserved summer holidays.

With peak summer travel now approaching, Ryanair is again calling on European Govts to suspend the rollout of EES until September, when the busiest travel period has passed, to prevent passengers – many travelling with young families from being forced to suffer long and avoidable passport control queues.

To help customers prepare for potential airport disruption and prevent them from missing their flights, Ryanair is advising passengers of the increased queues at passport control when travelling to non-Schengen destinations, and to arrive earlier at the airport.

Checks may require scanning passports, providing fingerprints and having a facial image taken, for which the current infrastructure is NOT ready to manage the high passenger volumes expected 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, with further congestion expected as we enter the busiest weeks of summer.

Ryanair has reiterated its concerns to the Govts of the most exposed countries, urging them to take action, protect consumers during a crucial period and postpone EES until September, as permitted under EU law. However, despite the clear impact on passengers and families this summer, there has been zero response to fix this major challenge.

Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon said,

“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.

It is as simple as postponing EES until September, as other EU countries like Greece have already done. Ryanair calls on European Govts once again to delay the implementation to protect passengers, families and airport operations during the school holiday rush, instead of forcing holidaymakers to endure needless passport control chaos.”