TL;DR
- Ryanair has named seven European airports where the new Entry/Exit System (EES) is causing the worst queues right now
- The list includes Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Krakow and Paris Beauvais
- EES fully rolled out across the Schengen Area in April 2026, and every non-Schengen traveller now gets fingerprinted and photographed on entry
- Port of Dover has already declared a “critical incident” during May half-term, with 4.5-hour waits
- Ryanair is calling for a rollout suspension until September and says it has had “zero response” from governments
- Greece has already paused its EES rollout, which gives agents a useful reference point for client chats this week
What’s Happening at Europe’s Summer Airports
If you’ve got clients heading into the Med this month, you’ll want a heads-up on this one. Ryanair has published a named list of European airports where the new Entry/Exit System is causing the longest queues. The airline points to Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante and Malaga in Spain, Milan Bergamo in Italy, Krakow in Poland, and Paris Beauvais in France as the airports currently struggling most with “insufficient staff, kiosks and system readiness.”
Ryanair’s advice to passengers on Schengen and non-Schengen routes is simple… arrive earlier than usual. The airline’s COO Neal McMahon put it plainly. “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.” Ryanair is calling for the whole rollout to be suspended until September and says it has had “zero response” from the governments involved.
A Closer Look
Right, quick recap on what EES is, because a lot of clients still haven’t heard of it. The Entry/Exit System went live across 29 Schengen countries in April 2026. It replaces passport stamping for non-Schengen travellers, which includes every UK passport holder, with fingerprints and a photograph taken on first entry.
It isn’t only airports feeling the pinch. Port of Dover CEO Doug Bannister has warned that the port will “face repeated episodes of severe congestion” without more flexibility. Dover declared a critical incident during May half-term, with waiting times hitting 4.5 hours on a day with roughly 8,500 tourist vehicles. Peak summer weeks are expected to exceed 12,000 vehicles a day. Dover invested £40 million in a purpose-built EES facility, but Bannister says it can’t be used because of “inoperability of the EES kiosk technology.” Greece has already suspended its own rollout, which agents can point to as a real precedent.
For Client Chats
Good news? A little context goes a long way. If your client is flying Ryanair into one of the seven named airports, a nudge to add an extra hour on the ground is genuinely useful, especially with a tight transfer or a cruise embarkation the same day.
For your Eurotunnel and St Pancras bookings, worth flagging that EES is being carried out at Folkestone and London St Pancras too, as reported by The Independent. And if you’ve got a Port of Dover crossing during a peak week, factor Bannister’s warning about queuing “spilling out of the port onto the public highway for miles” into your timings.
The Helpful Bit
Sophie’s take? Keep this one filed under “quiet reassurance.” Clients see the queue photos, but most don’t know the specific airports or the Schengen versus non-Schengen bit. A short, warm message naming the airports on the list, suggesting an earlier arrival, and pointing to your usual pre-departure checklist… that’s the whole play this week.
