Ryanair passengers have been given a stark warning: if you are stuck in passport control queues, the plane will not wait for you. The budget carrier's chief executive, Michael O'Leary, made clear that flights will depart without anyone who fails to reach the boarding gate on time, regardless of immigration delays.
“We will not wait for anybody. If you are stuck, if you are not at the boarding gate when we finish boarding, the plane is going without you,” O'Leary told the Travel Expert with Simon Calder podcast. “We are not delaying our flights for people who are stuck in passport control queues. They either have to show up at the airport earlier, or they have to be at the boarding gate; otherwise, they are not flying.”
“Ryanair warns flights won't wait for EES queue delays; swimmer Archie Goodburn shares emotional final message.”
The warning comes as the newly introduced Entry Exit System (EES) requires travellers to provide biometric data when entering and leaving the EU. Border control queues have grown considerably longer, with many holidaymakers facing waits of several hours. Some have missed connecting flights, transfers or return flights as a result.
Ryanair's chief operations officer, Neal McMahon, said the EES system “isn't working properly” and that families are “paying the price for a system that does not work months after launch.” He added: “Passengers should not be the testing ground for unfinished border infrastructure. We support calls from EU Member States to urgently extend the EES flexibilities. This will give airports and border authorities the time to improve the infrastructure, fix the broken devices and hire more staff so that families can travel through Europe without disruption.”
The carrier previously identified 15 European airports experiencing the lengthiest delays: Lisbon, Tenerife South, Madrid, Lanzarote, Alicante, Malaga, Milan Bergamo, Milan Malpensa, Verona, Paris Beauvais, Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt Hahn, Krakow and Budapest. The EES applies only to Schengen Area nations; the Republic of Ireland and Cyprus, though EU members, are outside Schengen and unaffected.
In a separate moment of emotion, Commonwealth swimmer Archie Goodburn delivered a heartfelt message after his final. “My Dream was to make the final...” he said, speaking in a video shared by The Scotsman. No further details were provided about his performance or future plans.
