A Ryanair flight from Athens to London Luton departed without up to 50 passengers, who were left stranded in Greece due to border control delays linked to new EU biometric checks.
Passengers Left Behind
Ryanair passengers have been left stranded in Greece after their flight back to the UK departed without them. The service, from Athens to London Luton, took off without between 20 and 50 passengers on board.
Budget carrier Ryanair blamed the situation on border delays, while the airport stated it had been experiencing congestion connected to "additional processing requirements". One traveller told the BBC there had been a "mega queue" of several hundred people at both security and passport control amid sweltering conditions.
"These poor people were pleading with the Ryanair staff to let them through - one guy was crying, another guy looked like he was about to explode," they said. Airport authorities intervened "to maintain orderly operations" after "a number of passengers expressed their dissatisfaction", officials confirmed.
Airport and Airline Statements
A spokesperson stated there had been "periods of congestion at passport control in the departures area due to high passenger volumes and the additional processing requirements associated with travel to non-Schengen destinations". They further commented: "As is currently the case at many European airports, passenger flows on certain routes may experience increased processing times as new border-control procedures continue to be implemented and refined."
A further passenger took to social media to tell Ryanair it was "utterly disgraceful you left my daughter (and half your passengers) at the gate in Athens today". Ryanair stated in an announcement that "a number of passengers" failed to board punctually "due to delays caused by border control at Athens airport". It continued: "All passengers that were at the boarding gate when this flight from Athens to London Luton boarded, travelled without incident."
New EU Biometric Checks
Greece has abandoned its commitment to exempt British holidaymakers from the European Union's new biometric border controls. Britons will now undergo the same Entry/Exit System (EES) registration as every other non-EU visitor this summer. The Greek Foreign Ministry confirmed the reversal, saying that it had no information that "specific nationalities are temporarily exempt from the relevant procedure." Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni stated that the government did not want visitors "burdened" by bureaucracy. She pledged that Britons would be "fast-tracked" through the system.
