British holidaymakers have named Tenerife South and Lanzarote Airports as two of the worst in Europe for passport control delays, with reports of queues lasting between one and two hours during the busy summer holiday season.

According to the Daily Mail, Tenerife South tops the list of European airports where passengers are most likely to face lengthy waits at border control. Ryanair has also said they are the worst affected by delays linked to the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES).

The warning comes at the height of the Canary Islands' peak tourist season, when thousands of British holidaymakers arrive every day.

New border system behind the delays

Much of the disruption has been blamed on the European Union's Entry/Exit System (EES), which replaced manual passport stamping with a digital registration process for non-EU nationals travelling to the Schengen Area for short stays.

Although the system began rolling out in October 2025, it became fully mandatory on 10th April 2026.

The new process records travellers' facial images, fingerprints and passport details each time they enter or leave the Schengen zone. While designed to improve security and speed up border checks, its introduction has led to significant delays at several busy European airports.

Ryanair says Tenerife South and Lanzarote are among the airports where passengers have repeatedly experienced slow processing times and excessive passport control queues, both on arrival and departure.

The airline's list also includes Lisbon, Madrid, Alicante, Málaga, Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt-Hahn, Kraków and Budapest.

Earlier this year, Ryanair reported waiting times of up to two hours at several Spanish airports, including Tenerife South, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Málaga and Alicante, blaming a combination of staff shortages and problems with the new system.

Consumer group also highlights Tenerife

The British consumer organisation Which? has also identified Tenerife South as the airport most frequently mentioned by travellers reporting long passport control queues linked to the EES.

The organisation ranked it number one in a list of 11 airports most commonly associated with lengthy waits at departure passport checks.

Advice for British travellers

Ryanair is advising passengers flying to or from Tenerife and other affected airports to allow extra time for airport procedures and to be prepared for longer-than-usual waits at passport control.

The advice is particularly relevant for British tourists, who must now complete the new biometric checks each time they cross the Schengen border.

The process is expected to speed up at all EU airports as travellers start repeat journeys after they have already submitted the data, meaning queues and waiting times will eventually reduce.