Seven airports are already experiencing “major disruptions” as new security border control checks lead to lengthy delays for travellers.
The new system requires most non-EU citizens, including those from the UK, to register their biometric information on arrival at the border.
Airlines are urging authorities to suspend the checks during the peak summer holiday season, warning they are causing severe congestion, with holidaymakers reportedly facing queues of up to five hours.
Ryanair has warned that some carriers are being hit harder than others, with “further congestion expected” as the summer travel season continues.
The airports most affected are Tenerife South, Palma, Alicante and Málaga in Spain, Milan Bergamo in Italy, Krakow in Poland, and Paris Beauvais in France.
Neal McMahon, Ryanair’s chief operating officer, said: “It is clear that the entry/exit system (EES) is still not ready for peak summer volumes.
“Passengers and families should not be used as guinea pigs for a half-baked passport control system that risks creating long queues, missed flights and unnecessary stress at airports this summer.”
On Thursday, Ryanair said it had already called for a suspension in the “most exposed countries”, claiming the current infrastructure is “not ready to manage the high passenger volumes expected” from mid-July.
The new EES checks, introduced in April, require most non-EU travellers to register their biometric information, including fingerprint scans and facial images, when they first enter or leave the Schengen area, replacing traditional passport stamping with digital border checks.
The delays have resulted in missed flights and aircraft departing with empty seats, while airlines have warned of "queue chaos" as travel demand peaks during the summer.
