A POPULAR holiday destination could soon lose all of its Ryanair flights – due to huge queues at the airport.
Malta is just one of the destinations in Europe that recently implemented the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) at its airport, which requires new biometric checks.
However, recent reports found that passengers were left stranded on the tarmac for 20 minutes because the queues were so long at security inside the airport building.
David O’Brien, one of Ryanair’s executive officers and the CEO of Malta Air, said: “If we find ourselves with significant congestion and delay, we’d have to redirect capacity away from Malta to other destinations and that’s not something we’d like to do.”
He has since written to Malta’s Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri to ensure border controls are fully staffed for this summer, according to The Times of Malta.
O’Brien added that “Europe is utterly unprepared in a general sense” and that while the airline has not yet experienced significant delays at Malta Airport, it is concerned about the upcoming summertime period.
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Last year, Ryanair carried more than half of total passengers to Malta and of those travelling to the country – with the UK being the biggest market.
To try and reduce the delays, Malta Airport has introduced new measures such as a specific Schengen corridor, as well as increasing the amount of immigration desks.
The airport has also transferred more airport staff to be working on the new system.
Alan Borg, CEO of Malta International Airport told The Times of Malta: “We are working hand in hand with the Malta Police Force to make sure we can do everything possible to support them in this important initiative.
“It is what it is. We need to find ways to improve the processing time over the summer period.”
EES is a new system used across 29 European countries to register non-EU nationals, which includes Brits, for short stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period.
And Malta isn’t the only airport suffering delays due to the newly implemented EES.
Last month, Travel Reporter Alice Penwill experienced three-hour queues at Lanzarote Airport.
She said: “The queues stretched along the corridor and zigzagged all the way through the arrivals hall that took passengers to EES registration.”
“I’d already signed up to EES, having visited Lithuania a few months ago – but that was no use at all.
“There was no separate queue for – or any staff for that matter – advising those who have registered to head straight to the passport e-gates.
“While this was frustrating, what was even more so was that only half of the EES machines were actually working.
“When I finally made it to my bus transfer, even the Jet2Holidays rep said she’d ‘never seen delays this bad’.”
Delays have also been reported at Brussels, Lisbon and Prague airports.
Greece has even decided to halt the system completely.
On April 18, a statement from the Greek Embassy announced that Brits are “exempt” from biometrics at all Greek border crossing points.
Eleni Skarveli, the director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, said: “The exemption of British passport holders from biometric registration at Greek border crossing points, effective from 10 April 2026, is expected to significantly reduce waiting times and ease congestion at airports.
“UK travellers will no longer need to undergo additional EES biometric procedures, ensuring a smoother and more efficient arrival experience in Greece.“
Sun Travel has contacted Malta Airport and Ryanair for comment.
In other travel news, here is the full list of 29 European countries being hit by new travel rules.
Plus, here are nine of the European airports where Brits are facing massive queues and missed flights due to new travel rules.