Over 60 passengers due to board a flight from Lanzarote to Ireland were left behind at the airport this week due to a lack of staff at border control.
A Ryanair flight from Lanzarote to Knock in Ireland took off without 66 of its passengers this Wednesday, according to a report by La Voz.
According to a complaint filed by a National Police agent, the reason the passengers were left behind at the airport was due to the present of just one official at border control.
“There was a delay in control, probably due to having only 50% of the staff at the boarding gate, to give priority to arrivals, together with a possible failure of the passport verification systems, which is becoming commonplace”, the report states.
“The official who controls the flight described is not assigned to the Arrecife Police Station or Lanzarote Airport and belongs to the staff of the General Police Station for Foreigners and Borders in Madrid”, the report continued.
The report continues to state that the work is not being carried out as they should be, “we are aware that they are appointing up to 30 extra services a week to try to comply with the minimum required by the Border Code on time, which would be the verification and stamping, without asking for the other requirements such as means of subsistence, return ticket, accommodation and verification of previous stays in the 180-day period.”
Ryanair has blamed the National Police for mismanagement and AENA for improper services. Some passengers were able to buy tickets for a later flight whereas others had to stay in hotels and wait to be able to fly back home.
RYANAIR ISSUES RESPONSE
“Due to delays at passport control at Lanzarote airport (11 September), several passengers missed this flight from Lanzarote to Knock.
Had these passengers presented themselves at the gate counter before it closed, they would have boarded this flight along with the 114 passengers who did present themselves at the gate on time.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused as a result of these passport control delays at Lanzarote airport, which are entirely beyond the control of the airlines.”
COURT CASE FILED FOR PREVIOUS INCIDENT
At the end of last month, it was announced that a court in Arrecife will judge a previous incident on July 31st, when 38 passengers were left behind on a 6pm Ryanair departure to the UK after only one police officer was provided to stamp outgoing passports. Despite appeals by Ryanair staff, the plane was forced to depart without passengers who had not been processed in time.
Ryanair claimed that they are not responsible for the delay and are thus not liable to compensate passengers.
