Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has issued a warning to passengers travelling through Europe this summer, saying the airline will not delay departures for travellers caught in lengthy passport control queues caused by the new Entry/Exit System (EES) border checks. The budget airline chief said passengers who fail to reach the boarding gate before it closes should expect their flight to leave without them, even if delays at immigration are beyond their control. Speaking on The Telegraph’s Travel Expert podcast, O’Leary said Ryanair’s priority was passengers who arrive at the gate on time.
Our priority is those passengers who are at the boarding gate when boarding starts,” he said. “If you’re not at the boarding gate when we finish boarding, the plane is going without you.” The comments come after the European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES) was fully introduced in April 2026. The automated border control system applies to non-EU travellers, including British passport holders, entering the Schengen Area across 29 countries.
Since its rollout, several European airports have reported significant delays, with some passengers missing flights after spending hours waiting at passport control. Ryanair has been one of the strongest critics of the system, calling on European governments to temporarily suspend EES checks during the peak summer travel season. O’Leary said some airports were experiencing unacceptable waiting times.
“There are about 15 airports where there are real problems, two, three hour waits at border control which to my mind is unacceptable.” The Ryanair boss highlighted several airports struggling with long queues, including Athens, Lisbon and Madrid, warning that travellers need to plan ahead. He advised passengers to arrive earlier than usual and allow additional time for border checks.Advertising1 (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); “They have to show up at the airport earlier, but they have to be at the boarding gate otherwise they’re not flying,” he said. Ryanair previously contacted governments across the 29 EES countries, urging them to delay the system’s introduction until after the busy summer travel period to prevent disruption.
Passengers Left Behind After Border Delays The warning follows an incident in May when a Ryanair flight from Toulouse to London Stansted departed without around 150 passen…
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