Lo Bue-Said said until the EU Entry-Exit System (EES) can be implemented "without a detrimental effect on the traveller experience", there must be greater flexibility.
She said pressing ahead while EES causes issues and disruption for travellers risks "undermining consumer confidence at a vital time" as travel heads into the summer peak season.
Ryanair on Thursday (30 April) called specifically on the French government to suspend the rollout of EES until September to ensure passengers, including young families, aren't "needlessly forced to suffer long passport control queue delays".
The carrier claims inadequate staffing, system readiness and volume of EES kiosks was already resulting in queues of up to two hours at several French airports following the full implementation of EES on 10 April.
It has written to all 29 countries operating EES urging them to suspend EES until September and to adopt a more pragmatic approach, highlighting Greece's decision to exempt British travellers from EES checks.
“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," said Ryanair’s chief operations officer Neal McMahon.
"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.”
'Vital time'
Lo Bue-Said said: "EES has continually faced issues and caused disruption for travellers since its introduction, and this is only set to continue as we head into the peak summer months with thousands of Brits set to travel to the EU for their holidays.
"Today's statement from Ryanair highlights the growing discontent across the travel industry and follows Greece's decision to completely drop requirements for UK travellers until September. At Advantage, we have been calling for a delay now for the last few months and fully support Ryanair's call on EU governments to suspend EES.
"A delay would allow authorities to properly assess operational pressures, ensure consistent readiness across member states, and increase staffing at key border points before scaling up further."
She added: "Until EES can be implemented without a detrimental effect on the traveller experience, there must be flexibility otherwise we face undermining consumer confidence within the travel sector at a vital time."
