Ryanair leaves 89 passengers behind

[Dorkeaux]

Jammy Git.
I've got to get back to Lanzarote, it's a great place.
The beautiful flinty white wine, the cactus reserve, all the Manrique sculptures on the roundabouts.
I even like the wrinkly little potatoes with chilli sauce that they serve up.

Being left behind at the airport does give me pause.

[woody1]

Being left behind at the airport does give me pause.

If you've no choice but to use Ryanair...

As soon as the gate number appears on the monitors (about 30 mins before departure), make a mad dash for it. Being at the front of the queue is your best chance of not being left behind.

You might get an inkling before it's on the monitors if you see Ryanair ground staff at a gate.

One thing's for sure though, you don't want to be at the back of a Ryanair queue.

PS. when you've got through hand baggage security and are in the departures area, remember to go to the EES machines at gate 6 and scan your passport

[ladymuck]

Having looked at the airlines that fly to Lanzarote, I would choose to go indirectly and fly via a larger airport on mainland Europe, so you enter/exit Schengen at a location that better geared up for the process. Then it's easy peasy to leave the island as it's just security and go.

[sadkingbilly]

alternatively, you could go via the rubber boat route

[woody1]

Having looked at the airlines that fly to Lanzarote, I would choose to go indirectly and fly via a larger airport on mainland Europe, so you enter/exit Schengen at a location that better geared up for the process. Then it's easy peasy to leave the island as it's just security and go.

One slight snag. Border control at Lanzarote make all non-EU passengers go through EES, no matter where they came from. Moreover, supposedly you only need to do facial scanning/finger printing once every 3 years, on entry at any Schengen border, but the EES system doesn't seem to be working properly. Several people on a Tripadvisor forum reported having to do it every time.

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The simpler solution is to just avoid Ryanair. Or better still fly with an airline like TUI which doesn't skimp on airport charges and has use of the skybridges, and seems to get preferential treatment at border control on the way out.

[ladymuck]

One slight snag. Border control at Lanzarote make all non-EU passengers go through EES, no matter where they came from. Moreover, supposedly you only need to do facial scanning/finger printing once every 3 years, on entry at any Schengen border, but the EES system doesn't seem to be working properly. Several people on a Tripadvisor forum reported having to do it every time.

-----

The simpler solution is to just avoid Ryanair. Or better still fly with an airline like TUI which doesn't skimp on airport charges and has use of the skybridges, and seems to get preferential treatment at border control on the way out.

So.. having flown a lot within Schengen, I know that there is no border control on arrival or departure at any of the airports I've been through. Once I've entered Schengen, there is no requirement to present my passport to anyone other than a gate agent for the purposes of confirming I am the person named on the ticket. What you're saying is that Lanzarote enforce full border controls even on intra-Schengen flights? You shouldn't be using EES or getting a passport stamp if you are not entering or exiting Schengen.

[woody1]

What you're saying is that Lanzarote enforce full border controls even on intra-Schengen flights? You shouldn't be using EES or getting a passport stamp if you are not entering or exiting Schengen.

Basically it's a mess. Everyone, no matter what flight they're on, ends up in a massive queue for border control. Airport officials go around calling out for EU passport holders to come forward so they can fast-track them.

There probably aren't many other EU airports where over half the passengers are from the UK. Brexit has really buggered them up.

Scheduled to start next year, they are redeveloping the entire airport at a cost of over €300m. There will then be 3 terminals, inter-island, Schengen and non-Schengen (ie. British*).

* well actually British and Irish, which the Irish might not be too happy about

[NotAllThere]

Looks to me like the title of this thread should be "Lanzarote Airport ineptitude causes travellers to miss their flights".

[sadkingbilly]

There probably aren't many other EU airports where over half the passengers are from the UK. Brexit has really buggered them up.

most of them voted for it, too.
well, teach them to believe lying feckers like Farage then, eh??

[woody1]

Looks to me like the title of this thread should be "Lanzarote Airport ineptitude causes travellers to miss their flights".

True but personally I would avoid any airline which chose to leave half the passengers behind even if the airport was to blame.

Removing the luggage delayed the flight by an hour, which was almost certainly longer than if they'd just let the passengers on board. That is "not all there" rationale in my book.