Several Ryanair passengers found themselves marooned in Greece as their scheduled return flight to the UK departed without them.
The flight, bound from Athens to London Luton, took off with an estimated 20 to 50 passengers missing from the roster.
Ryanair, a budget airline, attributed the incident to border delays, while the airport cited congestion due to “additional processing requirements.” A traveler recounted facing long queues of hundreds of people at security and passport control in hot weather.
According to reports, distressed passengers pleaded with airline staff for assistance, with some individuals showing visible signs of distress. Airport officials stepped in to maintain order after several passengers expressed their discontent.
An airport spokesperson acknowledged congestion at passport control in the departures area, attributing it to high passenger volumes and increased processing requirements for non-Schengen destinations.
The spokesperson further explained that delays were a result of new border-control procedures being rolled out across European airports, leading to extended processing times on certain routes.
Another passenger took to Twitter to criticize Ryanair for leaving passengers behind at the gate in Athens, calling the situation “utterly disgraceful.” In response, Ryanair stated that delays caused by border control at Athens airport resulted in some passengers missing the boarding time.
Ryanair clarified that all passengers present at the boarding gate when the flight departed from Athens to London Luton boarded without incident.
Greece has reversed its decision to exempt British travelers from the European Union’s new biometric border checks. This change means that British visitors will now undergo the same Entry/Exit System (EES) registration as other non-EU travelers during the summer.
The Greek Foreign Ministry confirmed the policy change, emphasizing that no specific nationalities would be exempt from the new border procedure.
This decision affects not only UK passport holders but all non-EU travelers subject to biometric scanning at the border.
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni assured that visitors, including Brits, would be expedited through the system to minimize bureaucratic hurdles. She stated that entry and exit processes would take approximately “a minute or so” for British travelers.