Ryanair passengers miss flight after 'hostile' passport control experience

The passengers were unable to board their Ryanair flight from Dublin Airport to Portugal after a 'hostile' passport control experience

Scores of passengers were left stranded at Dublin Airport, unable to board their Ryanair plane headed for Portugal due to a 'hostile' encounter with passport control. Flight FR7337 was supposed to depart Lisbon for Dublin at 10pm on Friday, September 20, but after several hold-ups and technical issues, over 60 travellers missed their flight.

Among those affected were Ross Lennon and his girlfriend, who found themselves stuck in Lisbon. In discussion with Dublin Live, Ross recounted that despite their early arrival at the airport, they weren't able to board when it came time to fly.

He said: "We were in the airport, about three and a half hours before our flight. All was good, we got through security and were looking for the flight on the monitor and saw it said 10.45pm. It was originally 10pm so we figured it was delayed."

Nonetheless, as they waited at border control by 9:20pm, the flight time suddenly switched back to 10pm; consequently, with over 60 people still queuing, the gate was sealed, leaving them behind, as per reports from Dublin Live. The couple, fortunate to have family with a house nearby, have been staying there since missing their Friday flight.

Ross mentioned, "We're flying back home on Tuesday, and this incident happened on Friday." He added that all weekend flights were fully booked, on not just Ryanair, but also Aer Lingus and TAP, reports Bristol Live.

Mairead, a Belfast mother-of-three, and her husband missed their flight and recounted the ordeal to Belfast Live: "Our flight was at 10pm and we arrived at the airport at 7pm and on the board it said it was going to be at 10.45pm - the minute the gate number was revealed, which was about 9.20pm, we got into the queue for passport control."

She described the ensuing chaos: "We had no prior knowledge that we would have to go through passport control. Two other flights were also called so everyone got into the queue at the same time and it made a massive queue. The queue became a really hostile environment with loads of pushing and shoving and lots of people shouting and screaming."

With the pressure mounting as three groups of passengers tried to make their flights, Mairead and others were confused about how they could possibly get through passport control in such a short time. After raising concerns to an official and being told to rejoin the line, they ultimately missed their flight: "However, the gate closed and 62 passengers were escorted back to the Ryanair desk where they were given the option to rebook another flight for a fee of €100."

Mairead continued, expressing her frustration: "I was obviously quite upset but we did that," and added, "Ryanair said the airport had put up the wrong flight time information but physically, it was never going to be possible from the time the gate number went up to when boarding closed to get everyone through passport control."

A spokesperson for Ryanair clarified the situation to Dublin Live, stating: "This flight was scheduled to depart Lisbon for Dublin at 22:00 on September 20. Due to staff shortages at Lisbon Airport's passport control, a number of passengers missed this flight from Lisbon to Dublin (20 Sept)."

"The gate for this flight was scheduled to close at 21:30 30 mins prior to departure but remained open an additional 22mins (closing at 21:52), at which time these passengers had still not presented for boarding on this flight. It is each passenger's responsibility to present at the boarding gate before it closes (as detailed on their boarding pass)."

They added: "Should these passengers have presented at the boarding gate desk before it closed, they would have boarded this flight alongside the rest of passengers who did present at the gate on time. Passengers who missed this flight were given the option to pay a standard missed departure fee (€100) and travel on later flights from Lisbon to Dublin which 31 of these passengers did."

Furthermore, the airline highlighted that screen display issues are the responsibility of Lisbon Airport. In pursuit of further clarity, Dublin Live has reached out to Lisbon Airport for a statement.