EES

Andy Burnham has been urged to lobby EU leaders directly to suspend the new entry-exit system, EES, as the peak weekend for overseas holidays begins.

About 2.2 million British holidaymakers are expected to head abroad between Friday and Monday, the majority to Europe, with all schools in the UK now on their summer break.

Speaking at Heathrow airport on Friday morning, the Liberal Democrats’ foreign affairs spokesperson, Calum Miller, said the prime minister needed to call on EU states to drop the “bungled, malfunctioning border system” until at least September.

The EES, which requires non-EU citizens to register on arrival and be photographed and fingerprinted, has been technically in full force since April after launching last year, but border police have been allowed to relax requirements during extreme delays.

Some passengers, however, have still missed flights while others have had to queue for several hours.

Miller said: “Holidaymakers and hauliers should not be punished by a bungled, malfunctioning border system that is completely out of their control. Andy Burnham needs to pick up the phone to each and every European leader – and persuade them, collectively, to suspend the EES until at least September.”

He said a disastrous Brexit deal was “putting millions of Britons at risk of having their holidays ruined by this broken EU border system”.

The travel association Abta said Spain would be the main destination for people travelling abroad this weekend, with strong demand also for Greece, Portugal, Italy and Turkey. Its chief executive, Mark Tanzer, said passengers should leave plenty of time for their journeys.

“For many heading overseas, this will be the first experience of EES, and for some, though not all, it may take longer than usual to get through passport control,” he said.

Greece has already indicated it will not impose the additional biometric checks on UK nationals who make up the majority of its incoming non-EU tourists, while problems with technology provided to France means that automated booths at its borders are not working.

The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, has met EU commissioners and her French counterpart, speaking again last week to raise concerns. A government spokesperson said: “While the new EES checks are a matter for the EU, we recognise this is a significant change for British travellers and are doing everything we can to get people away on their summer holidays with as little hassle as possible.”

That includes money for EES facilities and management of traffic at the port of Dover. For cross-Channel traffic, the French border posts are in the UK – prompting concerns of tailbacks over the peak getaway period. But French border police have decided not to fingerprint or photograph car travellers at ferry ports or the Eurotunnel terminal and traffic has so far passed smoothly.

The port of Dover said it was expecting its busiest days of the summer on Friday and Saturday, with just over 10,000 cars on top of the usual haulage traffic, but that queueing time had not exceeded 40 minutes and had been as little as 10 minutes.

Return flights from Europe for UK citizens will be the biggest anxiety. EasyJet urged the EU on Thursday to extend the flexibility to suspend the EES until the end of October.

The airline has previously called for Portugal to suspend the EU Entry-Exit System (EES)

Ryanair has provided an update regarding its stance on the contentious EU entry-exit system (EES). The budget carrier has been an outspoken opponent of the new digital system, which is progressively replacing traditional passport stamps for British travellers heading to the Schengen zone.

The airline particularly highlighted the EES implementation in Portugal, which has come under fire in recent weeks. The system has been repeatedly suspended during peak periods to allow passengers to catch their flights following reports of significant delays.

“Portuguese Government needs to suspend new Entry/Exit System (EES) until after the peak summer season,” a Ryanair statement posted on Instagram declared.

“Otherwise, passengers are forced to endure excessive border control queue times at Portuguese airports.”

Uncertainty arose following suggestions that Portugal and Italy were poised to mirror Greece’s approach, which announced it had effectively halted the EES process for British nationals until summer’s end. However, neither Portugal nor Italy verified these claims.

EES explained

EES received a soft launch last October, but was scheduled to become fully operational on April 10, 2026. It requires most visitors – including Britons – from beyond the EU to register biometric information each time they enter or exit the Schengen free travel area. The countries in the Schengen area are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The Republic of Ireland and Cyprus fall outside the Schengen zone, meaning EES does not apply when travelling to either of these destinations. No action is required prior to reaching the border, and EES registration is completely free of charge.

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Reports have emerged from Italy of passengers missing their flights, prompting the UK Government to warn: “EES may take each passenger extra time to complete so be prepared to wait longer than usual at the border.”

Ryanair has previously hit out at the EES system. Branding it ‘half-baked’ earlier this month, the airline stated: “Despite knowing for over three years that EES would become fully operational from 10 April 2026, France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany have failed to ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place.

“As a result, passengers are suffering long passport control queues and, in some cases, missing their flights.

“Ryanair calls on these EU Governments to suspend the rollout of the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES) until September to ensure that passengers are not needlessly forced to suffer long passport control queue delays at European airports during the peak summer season.”

THE new EES rules have caused chaos for Brits heading on their recent holidays with reports of three-hour long queues and even cases of missed flights.

So if you’re after an easy escape to a beautiful island with no biometric requirements, there is a European country which is hitting highs of 26C next week.

Follow The Sun’s award-winning travel team on Instagram and Tiktok for top holiday tips and inspiration @thesuntravel.

EES has been causing chaos across Europe in places like Lanzarote and Greece, but Cyprus doesn’t follow these new rules.

Cyprus is an EU member state, but isn’t part of the Schengen area, and so it didn’t have to enforce the new EES requirement.

In fact, Brits with a valid passport can visit the country for up to 90 days without the need for a visa.

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The island itself gets over 300 days of sunshine each year and is known for having beautiful beaches – including one of the best in the world.

In the Europe list of ‘World’s Best Beaches‘, Golden Beach found on the Karpaz Peninsula in the north of the island comes in at number 30 out of 50.

The beach has 2.4 miles of sand and is known for its wild beauty and sand dunes – it’s a place where you’ll find sea turtle nesting grounds.

Some of the most popular spots in Cyprus include Limassol and Paphos.

Larnaca is another, and it’s a favourite destination of singer Peter Andre’s who has his own villa there – and knows lots of great restaurants in the area.

Talking to Sun Travel, he said: “For anyone going to Larnaca, I have three recommendations. One is a new restaurants called Theta in Perivolia which is very near the airport.

“It does Mediterranean food, but done in the style of a Dubai 5-star restaurant.

“There’s another one called Opa Souvlaki Kiti, it’s not fancy, but if you want a proper Greek kebab done the Cypriot way, go there.”

When it comes to eating and drinking out in Cyprus, you can pick up a beer from €3 (£2.59) and an inexpensive meal can start from €15 (£12.97).

With UK temperatures dropping and potential drizzle forecast for next week, you might want to consider booking a last-minute break – and there are still some great deals about.

With On The Beach, you can jet off to Paphos for an all-inclusive break from £440pp – or £63pppn.

This is for a seven-night stay at the Hylatio Tourist Village which has a sun terrace, outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts and entertainment nights with live music.

The site has its own restaurant and bar – and the price includes all three meals and snacks as well as flights that depart on May 11.

The complex is a short walk from the Blue Flag Pissouri Beach.

Another deal from On the Beach is at Atlantica Panthea Resort in the Larnaca region which can be booked from £455pp – or £65pppn.

Minutes from the beach, the hotel also has its own swim spots from outdoor pool to heated ones indoors.

Rooms vary from doubles to family size and suites – all with neutral decor and private balconies or terrace.

There are multiple restaurants, bars and snack spots for guests.

Flights depart London Gatwick on May 13 returning on May 20.

Simon Calder described the EU’s Entry Exit System (EES) as ‘passport roulette’

A leading travel journalist has suggested the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) could be put on hold for the entire summer following reports of chaos and significant delays at airports. Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Simon Calder – who has branded the system ‘passport roulette’ – acknowledged that while some locations had performed ‘really well’, others were ‘struggling’.

EES is an automated system gradually replacing the traditional passport stamp. It requires people from third-party nations such as the UK to have their fingerprints registered and photograph captured before entering the Schengen Area, which encompasses 29 European countries, predominantly within the EU.

For the majority of UK travellers, the procedure takes place at foreign airports. The system saw a soft launch in October 2025 and was meant to be fully operational across all borders by April 10, 2026.

Yet there have been numerous accounts of passengers missing flights and enduring lengthy queues at airports as systems buckle under the sheer volume of people attempting to register. Several countries have suspended EES at various points, with Greece postponing the system for UK travellers over the summer to enhance the travel experience.

Portugal has halted EES for extended stretches to ease travel to and from the country, with speculation mounting that Italy may do likewise. Mr Calder indicated it was not beyond the realms of possibility. “It was always going to be really exciting to see what happens when you roll out a digital borders scheme and you ask 29 national governments to implement it,” Mr Calder said. “They have all gone their own way.

“Some of them have done it really well. Others, well, they are still struggling and we might find that, actually, the whole scheme gets put on a sort of hold for the rest of the summer.

“That’s certainly what a lot of airlines and train operators would like, not to mention the Port of Dover, where they haven’t even started taking biometrics from motorists yet.”

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What’s the problem?

Headlines were made in April 2026 when passengers travelling with both Ryanair and easyJet missed their flights from separate Milan airports owing to EES complications. Footage from one incident revealed a crowd gathering at Milan Bergamo, with exasperated passengers informing staff they had been held at the gate for over an hour, demanding to know what action to take.

It’s understood that approximately 30 passengers were left behind. Ryanair said in a statement: “Due to passport control delays at Milan Bergamo Airport on 16 April, a number of passengers missed this flight from Milan to Manchester.” One passenger claimed they were kept waiting until the aircraft had departed, only to then be informed they would need to arrange their own return flights. A number of travellers on a Ryanair service from Tenerife South to East Midlands on 10 April also missed their homeward journey, once again blaming hold-ups at passport control.

Ryanair recently issued a blistering statement on social media, demanding the EES rollout be postponed until September. The low-cost carrier tore into France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany for their failure to ‘ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place’.

Branding the system as ‘half-baked’, the Ryanair statement said: “Despite knowing for over three years that EES would become fully operational from 10 April 2026, France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany have failed to ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place.

“As a result, passengers are suffering long passport control queues and, in some cases, missing their flights.

“Ryanair calls on these EU Governments to suspend the rollout of the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES) until September to ensure that passengers are not needlessly forced to suffer long passport control queue delays at European airports during the peak summer season.”

TWO more countries in Europe are set to ignore the new entry rules that have caused chaos at airports.

The new Entry/Exit System (EES) now requires all non-EU citizens to undergo biometric checks at the border.

Including Brits, this has resulted in queues as long as four hours and people even missing their flights.

However, Italy is expected to scrap the requirements by the May holidays in a bid to avoid the chaos, continuing to stamp passports instead.

And Portugal, while not scrapping entirely, has temporarily paused the EES rules if queues are too long.

Both Faro and Lisbon Airport have been some of the worst affected by massive waits.

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Yet passengers have said they are being waved through to ignore the biometric machines when there are huge crowds.

It comes after Greece also scrapped the rules ahead of summer.

The Greek embassy confirmed last month: “In the framework of the implementation of the Entry/Exit System, as of 10 April 2026, British passport holders are exempt from biometric registration at Greek border crossing points.”

Eleni Skarveli, the director of the Greek National Tourism Organisation in the UK, added: “The Greek National Tourism Organisation remains committed to ensuring a seamless and welcoming journey for all visitors from the UK.”

Airlines such as Ryanair are calling on other countries to pause the rules too, with fears of more problems during the busy summer holidays.

Countries including Spain and France are yet to confirm if they will follow suit.

Here’s everything you need to know about the EES system.

And our Deputy Travel Editor revealed how to avoid the huge EES queues this summer.

Ryanair is warning customers after problems with the European Entry/Exit System (EES)

Ryanair has provided an update regarding its stance on the new European Entry/Exit System (EES), which is continuing to pose difficulties for travellers. The system affects Brits heading to the Schengen zone, encompassing sought-after destinations including France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.

It is a digital system that is taking the place of conventional passport stamps. Travellers may need to register biometric information, such as fingerprints and a photograph, upon arrival. No advance action is required before reaching the border, and there is no charge for using the system.

EES officially went live on April 10, 2026. Yet difficulties with the system, particularly during peak periods at busy airports, have resulted in its suspension in several countries on multiple occasions.

Budget carrier Ryanair issued a blistering message on social media, demanding the EES rollout be halted until September. The low-cost airline criticised France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany for failing to ‘ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place’.

Reports indicate that passengers have been left waiting for hours due to the new system, with some even missing their flights as a result. Branding the system as ‘half-baked’, Ryanair’s statement read: “Despite knowing for over three years that EES would become fully operational from 10 April 2026, France, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Spain, and Germany have failed to ensure that adequate staffing, system readiness, or kiosks are in place.

“As a result, passengers are suffering long passport control queues and, in some cases, missing their flights.

“Ryanair calls on these EU Governments to suspend the rollout of the EU’s passport control Entry/Exit System (EES) until September to ensure that passengers are not needlessly forced to suffer long passport control queue delays at European airports during the peak summer season.”

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The system was gradually rolled out from October 2025 before coming into full effect on April 10 across Schengen countries, which comprise 25 of the EU’s 27 member states alongside Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Frustrated holidaymakers have reported a range of issues, from an insufficient number of kiosks to handle registrations, to malfunctioning fingerprint scanners and being forced to repeat the entire process on both arrival and departure.