Ryanair urges EU to extend flexibility over troubled border system

Ryanair has called on the European Commission to extend until April 2027 emergency flexibility allowing countries to suspend parts of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) when border-control queues become excessive. The airline said the derogation expired on 6 September despite continuing problems with kiosks, staffing and processing times.

According to Ryanair, passengers faced waits of up to two or three hours at airports including Krakow, Lisbon, Milan and Rome during the summer. Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon described the implementation as a “shambles” and argued that airports and border authorities need another winter to correct technical and staffing deficiencies.

EES electronically records the passport details, fingerprints and facial images of non-EU nationals making short visits to the Schengen area, replacing manual passport stamping. It began progressively in October 2025 and became fully operational in April 2026. Temporary safeguards subsequently allowed countries to suspend certain functions at congested border crossings in exceptional circumstances.

Ryanair’s intervention follows similar warnings from airport and airline organisations, as well as several EU governments. The European Commission has maintained that EES is functioning normally at most crossings, although significant difficulties and lengthy queues have been reported at a number of airports. Any extension would require action at EU level; Ryanair’s requested April 2027 date is the airline’s proposal rather than an agreed deadline.

Sources: European Commission, UK Parliament research briefing