Irish passengers due aboard Mayo-bound flight left behind in Lanzarote after 'passport delays'

Dozens of Irish passengers who were due to fly to Knock on Wednesday were left behind in Lanzarote, with airline Ryanair blaming "passport control delays".

Up to 66 passengers who were booked on to the afternoon Mayo-bound flight from César Manrique Airport in Lanzarote on Wednesday were left behind in the Spanish airport, the Irish Independent reported.

Many of the passengers were forced to book alternative flights for Wednesday evening, while a small number of passengers were unable to fly home until Thursday evening, resulting in an extra night of accommodation.

Ryanair said the issue arose as passengers missed their flight due to delays at the passport control station.

It is believed the border control desk was short staffed at the time of the flight.

A spokesperson for Ryanair told the Independent that the issue was beyond the airline’s control.

“Due to passport control delays at Lanzarote Airport on September 11, a number of passengers missed this flight from Lanzarote to Knock. Should these passengers have presented at the boarding gate desk before it closed, they would have boarded this flight alongside the 114 passengers who did present 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 airlines’ control.”

According to local news outlet La Voz, a complaint filed by a National Police officer states, "There was a delay in flight control, probably due to having only 50% of the staff at that boarding gate, to give priority to arrivals, in addition to a possible failure of the passport verification systems, which is becoming common.”

The officer also reportedly complained that there was only one official present during the boarding process.

Donal Healy of Knock Airport told TravelExtra that they are "aware of the situation", and added that the airport "has no control unfortunately over what happens at other airports".

"We don’t have access to passenger details who travel with Ryanair so we are extremely limited in what we can do to assist," Healy said.

"We are of course assisting all passengers who have parked vehicles at the airport ensuring they can collect them when they return and no extra charges will be imposed for any overstays. We are on hand of course to assist in any means possible where we can."

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