Ryanair boss says four-hour passport queues are EU's punishment to Britain for Brexit
Michael O'Leary, the airline's chief executive, says the EU has “undoubtedly” been forcing British holidaymakers to endure longer waits after Brexit.
Four-hour long passport queues in European airports are Britain’s punishment for leaving the EU, the boss of Ryanair has claimed.
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Michael O'Leary, the airline's chief executive, has argued the EU had “undoubtedly” been forcing British holidaymakers to endure longer waits after Brexit.
It comes as jetting-setting Brits have been warned of delays at airports lasting hours as countries introduce new changes at their borders.
The EU’s new entry/exit system (EES) requires all passengers without an EU passport to have their fingerprints registered and their pictures taken.
People’s fingerprints will be captured and their pictures taken on first entry into the Schengen zone. They will then be checked at every entry and exit.
The procedure is carried out at kiosks in larger airports or by border officials at smaller airports.
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The system came into effect in full this week. Until now, only 50 per cent of passengers were being checked under the new system.
Mr O'Leary said there had been “significant disruption” at passport control in airports where the system has already been in place.
“We are beginning to see significant disruption. That's the next big issue. And EES has just been a s*** show and a shambles,” he told The Times.He said that any EU country can defer the introduction of EES for five months until the end of September, adding it would make “much more sense” to this so the situation doesn’t get worse over the busier summer months.Mr O'Leary added: ”There's a bit of Brexit in this too. Here, you voted for Brexit - f*****g join the queue.”
Mr O'Leary also said additional delays were being sparked by understaffed immigration kiosks. He claimed passengers who had already registered under the new system were being placed in the same queue as all the others. Smaller airports, including Seville, Alicante, Tenerife and Faro, were likely to be most impacted by delays, he claimed.
It comes after trade body the Airports Council International (ACI) said that data “shows a continued deterioration in waiting times at border crossing points”.It said that airports were seeing queues of two hours at peak times, with some airports reporting even longer queues.
Olivier Jankovec, the director-general of ACI, and Ourania Georgoutsakou, the managing director of Airlines for Europe, said: “We reiterate our call on the European Commission and member states to extend the possibility to fully or partially suspend EES — where operationally necessary — during the entirety of the 2026 summer season. “This flexibility has proven vital in preventing catastrophic operational disruptions during the progressive rollout of the system.”
The new system is operating with “fundamental challengers” that have not yet been resolved, the group said.
If the technical and operational issues with EES are not resolved, this flexibility should remain available during future peak travel periods, such as winter 2026-27.”
Alex Norris, the minister for border security, said “extra time may be needed, both for your return to the UK and travelling to the EU”.