The derogation allowed the countries to temporarily suspend EES to prevent border control congestion during the high-season peak; however, Ryanair mentions that “despite the ongoing disruptions being suffered by passengers, the EU Commission has allowed this important flexibility to expire.”

Ryanair recalls that the EU has been warned by airlines, airports and industry bodies that the “EES rollout is increasing border processing times, creating excessive queues and causing avoidable disruption for passengers across Europe.” The company used the summer season as an example, when “border control delays reached up 2-3 hours in the likes of Krakow, Lisbon, Milan and Rome.”

This way, Ryanair calls “on the EU Commission to urgently extend the EES derogation until at least Apr 2027, giving airports and border authorities the time needed to fix the broken kiosks, increase staffing levels and ensure the system can operate efficiently before full enforcement is imposed on passengers.”

In a press release, Ryanair’s COO Neal McMahon, said that "the EU's handling of EES has been a shambles from start to finish. Airlines, airports and border authorities repeatedly warned Brussels that the rollout was not ready, that it would increase processing times and that it would create excessive queues for passengers. Those warnings were ignored, with EU citizens the ones delayed and disrupted. Passengers should not be made to pay the price for the EU's failed EES rollout. Ryanair calls on the EU Commission to urgently extend the EES derogation until at least Apr 2027, so that airports and border authorities have the time needed to fix malfunctioning kiosks, increase staffing levels and ensure the system can operate efficiently before full enforcement is introduced and passengers are condemned to these excessive border control delays for another season.”