On April 16, a crowd gathered at the passport control desks at Milan Bergamo airport and did not quickly disperse. By one passenger’s count, there were about 80 people waiting in line for four flights at once. The line had been moving for an hour and a half without significantly shortening. Bolton resident Adam Hassanjee, 18, was present. He was flying to Manchester. He watched as it departed without him. Then he was informed that he would have to arrange his own transportation home, as casually as these items are typically delivered at airports. In the end, he flew from Bergamo to Malta and from Malta to Leeds. He told the BBC, “People who were on later flights than us were pushing past us.” “A few were allowed to pass. It was total mayhem. There was no organization, and employees were indifferent. About thirty of the passengers on Ryanair’s scheduled flight from Milan to Manchester were missing; they had all been in the passport control line rather than at the gate.
The Entry-Exit System, a European digital border control program that requires non-EU citizens—including British passport holders after Brexit—to register biometric information, such as fingerprints and face scans, when entering the Schengen Area, is the primary cause. On every subsequent crossing, the system then verifies that information. EES was scheduled to go live on April 10, 2026, after a phased rollout that started in October 2025. Ryanair confirmed that another group of passengers, about 70 people, missed a flight from Tenerife South to East Midlands on that exact day—the first day of full intended operation—again because of delays in passport control. Among them were 42-year-old teacher Peter Walker, his spouse, and their two-year-old child. It would be a week before the next Ryanair flight back was available. He was eager for school. He paid £1,600 to find a different way home. He found that the situation was not covered by his travel insurance. “Communication and support were non-existent from Ryanair,” he stated. “At no point was there someone to reassure us or to talk to us about options.”
| What Is EES | Entry-Exit System (EES) — a European digital border control system requiring non-EU citizens (including UK passport holders post-Brexit) to register biometric data, including face scans and fingerprints, when crossing the EU Schengen Area border. Covers 29 countries, mainly within the EU. Data is then checked on each subsequent crossing. Phased introduction from October 2025; full operation intended from April 10, 2026 |
| Milan Bergamo Incident | April 16, 2026: Ryanair flight Milan Bergamo → Manchester. Approximately 30–80 passengers (accounts vary) were left behind after being unable to clear passport control in time. Adam Hassanjee, 18, from Bolton, waited one and a half hours without moving. Saw the plane leave. Was told to book his own alternative flights. Ended up flying Bergamo → Malta → Leeds. Passengers described “complete chaos” with no organisation and staff with “no care.” |
| Tenerife Incident | April 10, 2026 (the day EES went fully operational): Ryanair flight Tenerife South → East Midlands. Approximately 70 passengers were left behind, mainly young families. Peter Walker, 42 (a teacher), his wife, and his two-year-old child were among those stranded. Walker spent £1,600 arranging an alternative route home. The next available Ryanair flight was one week later. Travel insurance did not cover the situation. “Communication and support were non-existent from Ryanair.” |
| Ryanair’s Response | Blamed passport control authorities — not the airline. Stated that all passengers at the boarding gate when boarding opened were accommodated. As of April 22, announced check-in desk and bag-drop services will close 60 minutes before departure (was 40 minutes) from November 10, 2026. CMO Dara Brady: The 20-minute change gives passengers more time to clear “airport security and passport queues.” Installing self-service bag drop kiosks at 95%+ of served airports by October 2026 |
| Reference | BBC News — Another Flight Leaves Passengers Behind Due to Border Delays (bbc.co.uk) ↗ |
According to Ryanair’s official stance on both incidents, passengers “missed their flight” as opposed to being “left behind”; the airline has consistently maintained this distinction, claiming that anyone present at the boarding gate when it opened was accommodated. Technically speaking, the airline holds the passport control authorities at each airport accountable. EES is not run by airports or airlines, but rather by the appropriate border agency in each nation. When lines get too long for travelers to actually get through before their flight leaves, it’s a government and infrastructure issue rather than an airline issue. In that regard, Ryanair is right. It is also true that the passengers who are stranded in Italy and the Canary Islands are unlikely to find that distinction especially helpful when they are making their own replacement flight reservations.
Seeing this happen at several airports and airlines (easyJet left passengers behind at Milan Linate in a similar incident earlier in April) gives the impression that there is a greater discrepancy between how EES was described during its planning stages and how it is actually operating at European airports than the European Commission has been willing to admit. The system was “working very well” in the “overwhelming majority” of member states, a Commission spokesperson told the BBC, although there were “a few member states where technical issues have been detected.” Over 56 million border crossings have been recorded under EES since October, and 28,500 people have been refused entry, including 700 who were deemed security threats. The Commission has been making that security case consistently, and it is real. It coexists with the fact that British travelers are experiencing significantly longer departure lines at airports in Spain and Italy.
Ryanair has taken a firm stance in response to the trend. The airline announced on April 22 that starting on November 10, its check-in desks and bag-drop services will close 60 minutes prior to scheduled departure, instead of the current 40 minutes. Giving travelers more time to get through security and passport lines is the stated justification. Dara Brady, the CMO, called it a “small 20-minute change.” In terms of operational policy, it is also an acknowledgement that the airport environment has changed and the earlier timing assumptions are no longer valid. By October, the airline hopes to have self-service bag drop kiosks installed at more than 95% of the airports it serves. The clearest indication of where this will go if airports don’t keep up is the threat to Malta: Ryanair’s executive in charge of Malta Air, David O’Brien, has written directly to Malta’s Home Affairs Minister to warn that the airline will reroute capacity away from Malta if congestion becomes severe during the summer peak. Over half of all travelers to Malta are carried by Ryanair. We are paying close attention to that warning.
Travelers from the UK were somewhat relieved by the news from Greece on April 21: Greek authorities confirmed they would not take pictures or fingerprints from British tourists as part of EES checks. For one of the most well-liked vacation spots in the UK, that is a significant exception. It’s still unclear if this is unique to Greece or if it represents a larger trend of member states making accommodations. For the time being, British travelers entering the Schengen Area during the busiest summer months should anticipate longer passport control lines and make appropriate plans, such as arriving early, keeping a close eye on departure board information, and not relying on an airline representative to explain their options if something goes wrong.
