Scots travellers hit by major Ryanair warning – with fears some passengers could miss flights
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AN URGENT warning has been issued to Scottish holidaygoers after hundreds of Ryanair passengers missed their flights over the last two weeks.
With the summer holidays fast approaching, families across the country will be gearing up for their long-awaited getaways.
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Bosses at Ryanair have issued an urgent warning to travellers
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It comes after 270 passengers missed their flights in recent weeks
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Thousands of travellers will be looking forward to their trips as schools prepare to finish up this month for six weeks.
But Ryanair has warned customers that they could face huge, bottleneck queues when they arrive at the airport.
Bosses have said that long queues at certain locations have caused travel chaos over the last two weeks.
And the budget airline revealed that over 270 holidaygoers missed their flights due to long waits.
Passengers have faced unnecessary wait times of up to two-and-a-half hours at a handful of airports.
And it has affected customers heading to several cities in Portugal, including airports in Faro, Lisbon, and Porto.
It is unacceptable that passengers are suffering border control delays of up to 2.5 hours as a result of staff shortages
Neal McMahon
The issues are said to be a result of a systemic staffing issue, and the massive delays are impacting hundreds of travellers every day.
Many of whom are families who are going on holiday with young children.
Airport operator ANA is being accused of not prepping its staff and border posts for the influx of summer travel.
Ryanair branded the situation "completely unacceptable" as it issued the urgent warning this week.
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The low-cost airline released a statement which said: "This is completely unacceptable and the new Government must take urgent action to adequately staff border control at Portuguese Airports.
"Especially during the peak morning period, to prevent unnecessary delays and more passengers unfairly missing their flights."
Issues were first reported on May 26, and Ryanair has called on Portugal's new government to take action.
The airline has urged them to tackle the ongoing staff shortages at these locations.
Neal McMahon, COO at Ryanair, referred to the situation as 'unsustainable' and said it is "unacceptable".
He said: 'It is unacceptable that passengers, many of whom are travelling with young families, are suffering border control delays of up to 2.5 hours at Faro, Lisbon, and Porto Airports as a result of staff shortages.
"Over the last two weeks alone, over 270 passengers have missed their flights just because the airport operator, ANA, has not ensured that adequate staff are in place to manage border control at Faro, Lisbon, and Porto Airports – some of Portugal's main airports.
"This is not good enough, and the problem will only worsen as we go further into the summer season and traffic numbers increase.
Advice for flying with Ryanair All Ryanair passengers can bring a small personal bag on board but this must fit under the seat in front of you, but it must be no bigger than 40cm x 20cm x 25cm
Any over-sized cabin bags will be refused at the boarding gate and put in the hold for a fee
Ryanair also charges passengers up to £55 check-in at the airport
Anyone who loses their card at the airport will have to pay a £20 reissue fee
Book to sit in the front five rows if you want to head off the plane first
Extra legroom seats can be found in rows 1 A, B, C or 2 D, E, F as well as row 16 and 17 near the emergency exit
The worst seat on Ryanair's Boeing 737-800 aircraft is also 11A because of its lack of window.
"Ryanair calls on the new Government to urgently intervene and fix these ongoing border control staff shortages at Faro, Lisbon, and Porto Airports, so that Portuguese families will not be forced to suffer 2.5-hour-long queues just to get away on their well-deserved holidays.'
Last week, Portugal's Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, tried to reassure worried travellers.
At the time, he predicted that the issues at border control should be 'resolved within two weeks'.
Portugal's PSP police force confirmed it will deploy 500 new officers to boost border control and airport security at Lisbon, Porto, Madeira, and the Azores in July.
An early reinforcement was already carried out at Faro Airport, where the queues have been particularly serious.
Airlines are being faced with a variety of logistical issues over the airports' staffing shortages, including rebooking, customer complaints, and compensation claims.
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