With the rollout of the European Entry/Exit System (EES) going as well as anyone expected, both airports and airlines are asking for traditional stamping to be brought back, as opposed to the ever-lengthening queues to enter and exit the Schengen area.
And this is where Ryanair comes in, with them identifying multiple choke points for the summer.
With schools now breaking for summer and passenger volumes reaching peak levels, the EES rollout is set to cause unnecessary delays and long queues for families and visitors to the Schengen Area.
Ryanair has identified a number of recurring EES hotspots where passengers are experiencing significant delays due to slow processing times and excessive passport control queues on both arrivals and departures within its network. These include:
- Lisbon
- Tenerife South
- Madrid
- Lanzarote
- Alicante
- Malaga
- Milan Bergamo
- Milan Malpensa
- Verona
- Paris Beauvais
- Berlin
- Cologne
- Frankfurt Hahn
- Krakow
- Budapest
All of these are popular destinations for UK families in the summer according to the airline.
Ryanair then goes on to comment about the lack of fully functioning self-service kiosks, with border staffing levels being inadequate to process the volume of passengers
In Quotes
Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer, Neal McMahon, said:
“Families heading away for a well-earned summer holiday should be thinking about suitcases, suncream and sangria, not standing in passport queues for hours. The reality is that the EES system isn’t working properly and families are paying the price for a system that does not work months after launch. Passengers should not be the testing ground for unfished border infrastructure.
We support calls from EU Member States to urgently extend the EES flexibilities. This will give airports and border authorities the time to improve the infrastructure, fix the broken devices and hire more staff so that families can travel through Europe without disruption.”
Allow extra time when both arriving and leaving the Schengen Area
Seeing EES in action, there are plenty of processes that need to be tightened up, with appropriate staffing at peak times – as well as streamlining (for example, filtering people for those who have had EES Registration completed vs non-registered), ensuring biometrics are captured appropriately (be it via an App for some countries or at Kisosks, with the data retained).
As for now, Ryanair is advising UK passengers travelling to and from non-Schengen destinations, or transiting through affected European airports, to allow extra time for their journey and be prepared for extended waits at passport control, where EES checks may require passport scanning, fingerprint capture and facial image verification.
Whilst Ryanair mentions specifically UK passengers, this also applies to passport holders who do not hold an EU Passport.
And yes, allow extra time when both entering and exiting the Schengen Area. Aircraft have left without passengers in the past because they couldn’t make it through the Schengen Border in time.
And airlines aren’t interested in refunding you for missing your flight because of border issues.
Spending extra time in duty-free or in a lounge could be the difference between making the flight or making alternative arrangements.
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