Ryanair leaves 89 passengers behind

[NotAllThere]

contractors don't fly with these lower class airlines.
do they???

Real contractors use their private plane.

But is this really a story? If you're late at the gate, you'll be left behind if the airline figures out it'll cost more to wait than to offload and just go. Waiting for you is great, not so great for any onward flights at the destination.

I guess the 80 who made their flight either got their early enough or were EU citizens.

[woody1]

But is this really a story? If you're late at the gate, you'll be left behind if the airline figures out it'll cost more to wait than to offload and just go. Waiting for you is great, not so great for any onward flights at the destination.

I guess the 80 who made their flight either got their early enough or were EU citizens.

Wrong. They weren't late at the gate.

https://gazettelife.com/news/89-ryan...zarote-airport

"The decision seems to have been taken because the passengers were delayed while passing through border controls to have their passports stamped. Ryanair proceeded to close the gate and unload the luggage belonging to the delayed passengers.

It is not the first such incident. In September 2024, a Ryanair flight to Knock in Ireland departed without 66 passengers, and a further 38 passengers booked onto a UK-bound flight were left behind in July of that year. Ryanair is the only airline reported to have abandoned passengers because of delays at border control.

At the time of those incidents, accusations were made that Ryanair were using passengers to protest against inadequate staffing at border control posts."

[NotAllThere]

Wrong. They weren't late at the gate.

They were quite literally late at the gate. You go through security, then border controls, then you go to the gate.

Ryanair closed the gate at the normal time. It's usual to close the gate 20-30 minutes before departure. They chose not to wait and you can argue about whether that was a good decision, but they were well within their rights not to leave the gate open.

Ryanair is the only airline reported to have abandoned passengers because of delays at border control. does not mean that no airlines have done it - the keyword is "reported". In fact, it's probably happened many times.

[woody1]

They were quite literally late at the gate. You go through security, then border controls, then you go to the gate.

I'm afraid you are wrong again.

That's not how it works at Lanzarote. Border control/passport stamping is at each gate. These passengers were queuing at the gate when Ryanair closed it.

[ladymuck]

Ryanair are especially tough on gate times and won't hold an aircraft for anyone. They don't care that passport control was understaffed and couldn't process the passengers. If you are not at the gate before the time they say it will close, then you are late. It doesn't matter what the reason is.


People also get narked when arriving late and the aircraft is still on stand while they rummage in the hold looking for your suitcase. There's been a whole procedure to offload you, update the manifest, get someone back into the cargo hold, redo the weights and balances calculations, etc. Unpicking that isn't trivial.

[NotAllThere]

That's not how it works at Lanzarote. Border control/passport stamping is at each gate. These passengers were queuing at border control the gate when Ryanair closed it.

Fixed that for you. Even if the next bit after border control is directly the gate, the point still stands. But I've checked the airport plan. It isn't. Map of César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport | Aena

[woody1]

Fixed that for you. Even if the next bit after border control is directly the gate, the point still stands. But I've checked the airport plan. It isn't. Map of César Manrique-Lanzarote Airport | Aena

Border control/passport stamping is done at each gate.

I'm going again a week on Sunday. I'll send you a photo if you like.

[NotAllThere]

Send a photo. Seems a weird way to do it. You get your passport stamped by border guards, and then immediately groundcrew check your ticket and passport again before allowing you to board? Since the passengers were delayed at the first bit, it doesn't matter if the second bit is immediately after.

They were delayed at border control.

[woody1]

They weren't denied boarding while waiting for ground crew to do the final check of tickets and ID before going to get on the plane.

I've travelled through that airport many times in the past 2 years.

Border control/passport stamping/checking boarding passes is all in the same place at the gate before boarding the plane. The Police officer* checking and stamping passports and the ground crew are all together.

* yes, they use Police officers not immigration officials

[woody1]

Send a photo. Seems a weird way to do it. You get your passport stamped by border guards, and then immediately groundcrew check your ticket and passport again before allowing you to board? Since the passengers were delayed at the first bit, it doesn't matter if the second bit is immediately after.

They were delayed at border control.

Can't argue with that.

And yes they were delayed at border control.

But still, it was Ryanair's decision to leave 89 passengers behind. That makes them ****s in my book.