Ryanair passengers left behind
- A Ryanair flight left some passengers behind at Milan Bergamo due to passport-control delays tied to the EES rollout. (walesonline.co.uk) - The incident is a concrete example of travelers missing flights because border queues extended past departure times. (walesonline.co.uk) - Airlines and tour operators are updating customers as EES-related delays ripple through schedules across Europe. ( )
A Ryanair flight from Milan Bergamo to Manchester departed without some passengers after passport-control queues stretched past boarding time on April 16. (independent.co.uk) Ryanair said “a number of passengers” missed the flight because of passport-control delays at Milan Bergamo, while passenger Adam Hassanjee told BBC News about 30 people were left behind after waiting roughly 90 minutes in line. (independent.co.uk; yahoo.com) The airline said anyone who reached the gate before it closed was boarded, rejecting claims that gate staff arbitrarily refused travelers who had cleared the queue in time. Milan Bergamo Airport had been approached for comment in follow-up reports. (independent.co.uk; aol.com) The delays are tied to the European Union’s Entry/Exit System, a digital border database that replaces passport stamps for non-European Union short-stay visitors with electronic records. The system also records a traveler’s facial image, fingerprints and passport data at the external Schengen border. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu; diplomatie.gouv.fr) The European Commission said the system became fully operational across Schengen countries on April 10, 2026, after a progressive rollout that began on October 12, 2025. In its first days at full scale, airports and airlines reported queues lasting two to three hours, with some reports of waits stretching longer. (home-affairs.ec.europa.eu; euronews.com) Airport and airline groups including ACI Europe, Airlines for Europe and the International Air Transport Association have asked Brussels to let countries suspend all or part of the system through the summer if disruption continues. Their February warning said peak-season queues could reach several hours without more flexibility. (aci-europe.org; iata.org) Travel companies have started adjusting their advice. Reports this week said Ryanair, Jet2, easyJet, British Airways and TUI were telling customers to allow more time at the airport as the new checks ripple through departures to and from Schengen destinations. (yahoo.com; mirror.co.uk) For passengers, the Milan Bergamo case turned a border-system rollout into a missed flight, a rebooking problem and an argument over who arrived at the gate on time. Ryanair’s position has stayed the same: the delay happened at passport control, not at boarding. (independent.co.uk; yahoo.com)
