Dozens of Ryanair passengers were left behind in Lanzarote due to lengthy border control waiting lines.
At least 89 passengers booked on the Bristol bound Ryanair flight were stuck in non EU-lines waiting to pass border control.
The airline held the flight for about an hour and then when dozens were still waiting, decided to offload their baggage and take off without them.
Flight FR4756 departed from Lanzarote half empty.
“Due to passport control delays at Lanzarote Airport a number of passengers missed this flight from Lanzarote to Bristol.”
“Should these passengers have presented at the boarding gate desk before it closed, they would have boarded this flight.”
It is unclear if the long delay is due to a trial of the upcoming EES system for recording biometric data for non-EU travellers.
Local media have reported on several recent occasions of major border control delays at Lanzarote Airport, citing a lack of passport control staff.
Lanzarote’s Chamber of Commerce chief, José Valle, had previously warned of ‘serious collapses’ at Lanzarote airport ahead of the full roll out of the EES Entry/Exit System, due to tech and staffing issues.
The flight arrived in Bristol about 50 minutes late.
