Ryanair Passengers Stranded In Greece After Athens Border Check Delays

Ryanair passengers were stranded in Greece after their flight from Athens International Airport to London Luton left without them on Sunday, with the BBC saying the aircraft reportedly departed without 20 to 50 passengers.

“Ryanair passengers were stranded in Greece after their UK-bound flight left without them as airports grapple with passport-control delays”

BBC

The disruption followed the introduction of the EU Entry/Exit System (EES) to track when non-EU citizens enter or leave the Schengen free-movement area, and the BBC reported that Ryanair blamed border delays while the airport pointed to congestion linked to "additional processing requirements."

BBC

LBC reported that around 20 to 50 passengers missed their flight after "mega-queues" formed at passport control and security, and it said the border delays were tied to airports rolling out new post-Brexit border checks.

The airport said it was experiencing "increased processing times as new border-control procedures continue to be implemented and refined," and Ryanair said "a number of passengers" did not board "due to delays caused by border control at Athens airport."

Milo Boyd, a Daily Mirror travel writer who told the BBC he managed to board, said he had not had his fingerprints scanned or his photo taken on entry or exit at Athens, and he described a massive line of several hundred people at both security and passport control.

Boyd told the BBC, "These poor people were pleading with the Ryanair staff to let them through — one guy was crying, another guy looked like he was about to explode," and the BBC said people on the other side of the gate shouted "you can’t do this."

LBC

The London Evening Standard reported that Boyd and his wife made it to the gate with just 10 minutes to spare, while he estimated that at least 20 passengers arrived too late and were left behind.

The airport said it had been experiencing "periods of congestion at passport control in the departures area due to high passenger volumes" and added that passenger flows on certain routes may experience increased processing times as procedures are implemented and refined.

The BBC framed the Athens incident as the latest since the EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) was introduced, and it noted that in April Greek tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni promised British passengers would not face biometric checks or be "burdened" by bureaucracy when traveling to Greece.

“The incident is the latest to fuel concerns over delays linked to the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES), which was introduced to tighten border security across Europe”

London Evening Standard

The BBC also said the Greek Foreign Ministry later disputed that any exemption existed, leaving the situation unclear for British travelers as airports grapple with passport-control delays.

The London Evening Standard reported that Frontex warned the EES may take up to two years to fully stabilise, and it said Ryanair blamed border delays while Athens International Airport pointed to congestion caused by "additional processing requirements."

Ryanair said in a statement that "All passengers that were at the boarding gate when this flight from Athens to London Luton boarded, travelled without incident," while the BBC reported that the flight was understood to have missed its air-traffic-control slot and departed an hour late after the missing passengers' bags were unloaded.