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Italy and Portugal have been tipped to follow Greece in scrapping the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) border checks at airports, which have caused chaos for some British holidaymakers

Travel experts believe Italy and Portugal could be the next two countries to ditch EU border checks at airports.

Many British holidaymakers are suffering delays at airports on continental Europe because of the rollout of new border rules. The EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) involves people from external countries such as the UK having their fingerprints registered and photograph taken to enter the Schengen Area.

More than 100 easyJet passengers stuck in delays at passport desks at Milan Linate airport missed a flight to Manchester last month. Greece has already ditched the new rules for UK holidaymakers until September after they led to huge queues.

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Airports in Portugal are reportedly already waving passengers through if queues get too big. Italy is expected to follow Greece and allow people to enter on a passport stamp as the May half-term looms. Places like Spain, France and Croatia could do the same.

Seamus McCauley, of travel company Holiday Extras, told the Mail: “The rollout has been an utter fiasco. British tourists are worth €3.5billion a year to the Greek economy and it has rightly decided it will not jeopardise that because EES is not working properly.”

He said it “seems certain” Italy and Portugal will do the same as Greece. He added: “After that the whole system could collapse like a house of cards, with Spain, France and Croatia coming to the same conclusion because nobody wants to see their tourist trade go to another country simply to comply with the EU.

“Greece broke ranks and Portugal keeps suspending the rules. Others are almost certain to follow. Something has to give.”

It comes as Ryanair says passengers who need to use its airport check-in or bag-drop services will be required to finish the process 20 minutes earlier.

The airline announced it will close the services an hour before the scheduled departure of a flight – compared to 40 minutes at the moment – to give passengers more time to get through security and passport checks.

This will reduce the “very small number of passengers” who miss their flight while stuck in queues, the carrier added. Ryanair’s website says passengers who fail to check in on time “may be denied boarding without refund”.

The new policy will be in place from November 10.

EUROPE’S biggest airline is calling for new European travel rules to be suspended.

Ryanair has written to the 29 countries where Europe‘s new Entry/Exit System (EES) is being enforced, to suspend the system until September following lengthy airport delays.

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The budget airline’s COO Neal McMahon said: “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 solution is simple and already provided for under EU law (EU Reg. 2025/1534) – Governments 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.”

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It comes as the airline has called on the French government to suspend the rollout of EES to ensure passengers do not suffer long queues at airports during the summer period.

According to the airline, despite French authorities knowing that EES was going to be introduced on April 10 this year for the past three years, they have “failed to ensure adequate staffing, system readiness or kiosks are in place”.

This has meant that there are long queues at passport control and in some cases, passengers are even missing their flights.

For example at Beauvais, Marseille and Nantes airports, queues are taking around one to two hours for passengers to get through.

Other European countries are also suffering, with Sun Travel Reporter Alice Penwill recently getting stuck at Lanzarote Airport in Spain for three hours.

Other reports have seen two-hour queues at Lisbon Airport in Portugal and in Malta, one flight was forced to wait on the tarmac for 40 minutes before passengers could get off, as passport control queues in the airport were so long.

Greece, on the other hand, has suspended EES until September, to manage peak summer travel.

Back 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, added: “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.

“The Greek National Tourism Organisation remains committed to ensuring a seamless and welcoming journey for all visitors from the UK.”