Ryanair, Jet2 (United Kingdom), and easyJet UK have all called for a relaxation of the European Union’s newly implemented Entry/Exit System (EES) as passengers face wait times of up to four hours at airport border controls.

In a press statement, Ryanair called on French and Italian authorities to halt the border checks until September to reduce long queues during the summer peak. “Governments across Europe are attempting to roll out a half-baked IT system in the middle of the busiest travel season of the year, and passengers are paying the price, being forced to endure hours-long passport control queues and, in some cases, missing flights,” the LCC protested.

Ryanair added: “The solution is simple and already provided for under EU law (EU Reg. 2025/1534). Govts should suspend EES until September when the peak summer travel season has subsided, just as Greece has done. This would allow passengers, many of whom are travelling with young families, a smoother airport experience for their summer holidays.”

easyJet reacted in April after one of its flights from Milan Linate to Manchester was forced to leave without 122 passengers because they were all stuck at passport control.

“We continue to urge border authorities to ensure they make full and effective use of the permitted flexibilities for as long as needed while European EES is implemented, to avoid these unacceptable border delays for our customers,” an easyJet spokesperson said, as quoted by the newspaper The Standard.

EES became fully operational on April 10, 2026, and the affected easyJet flight took place on April 12. The carrier had issued a warning on its website on April 1, telling passengers that border checks may take longer than usual, but even passengers who arrived three hours ahead of their flights were not necessarily able to make it to the aircraft in time.

As a result of the queues, Greek authorities confirmed they would suspend EES for UK nationals, but it remains unclear if the system will be formally suspended also for other nationalities. Jet2 commended the Greek move and called on other EU member states to do the same during the summer.