Michael O’Leary has issued a stark warning to passengers about being on time for flights and criticised the EU’s entry-exit system (EES) rules causing lengthy airport queues
Ryanair flights will take off without passengers that are caught in passport queues across Europe this summer, its chief executive has warned.
Controversial airline boss Michael O’Leary said if passengers are not at the boarding gate when their flight has finished boarding, it will leave without them. It comes after travellers have battled huge queues since the EU’s entry-exit system (EES) took full effect in April.
British passengers have been caught in queues of up to three hours at Schengen Area airports. And in some instances, travellers have missed their return flights owing to the biometric checks. But O’Leary said it’s travellers’ responsibility to arrive for flights on time.
Speaking on the The Travel Expert podcast, O’Leary also called EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen ‘stupid’ as he raged against the check-in chaos.
He said: “We will not wait for anybody. Our priority is to those passengers who are at the boarding gate when boarding starts.
“If you’re not at the boarding gate when we finish boarding, the plane is going without you.”
Hundreds of travellers on a range of airlines have missed planes since April, watching their flights take off without them because of extreme delays at passport control.
Stranded travellers have spent hundreds of pounds on replacement flights and hotels, only to find that neither the airline nor travel insurers will cover the cost.
Mr O’Leary called the lack of passenger rights “regrettable”, but said that Ryanair will not delay flights for passengers.
He added: “We’re not delaying our flights for people who are stuck in passport control queues.
“They have to show up at the airport earlier [and] be at the boarding gate, otherwise they’re not flying.”