Ryanair demands urgent intervention as passengers face long delays and missed flights at major airport
Ryanair has demanded the Portuguese government 'urgently fix' staffing issues at airports across the country that have led to almost 300 passengers miss their flights.
Europe's largest budget airline said the those that have managed to fly, including many travelling with young children, were being left to endure delays of up to two and a half hours.
The problems are 'completely unacceptable', said Ryanair.
Ongoing border control staff shortages at Faro, Lisbon, and Porto airports have been blamed for the issue, which are leading to 'excessive' queues.
The carrier said that 'urgent action' is needed, especially during the peak morning period.
It claims that during the two-week period from 26 May to 9 June, 270 passengers departing the affected airports missed their flights.
Neal McMahon, Ryanair COO, criticised airport operator ANA Aeroportos de Portugal for the chaos.
He blamed it for failing to ensure that 'adequate staff are in place to manage border control'.
He added: 'This is not good enough, and the problem will only worsen as we go further into the summer season and traffic numbers increase.'
Earlier this month, Portugal's minister of infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, attempted to reassure tourists, promising that issues around border control would be 'resolved within two weeks', according to The Mirror.
Ivaylo Danailov, CEO of airline compensation specialists SkyRefund, is warning that those caught up in the problems could be in line for some money under European Union rules.
'When severe border control delays at Portugal's major airports cause missed flights, airline passengers may be entitled to compensation or rerouting under EU Regulation 261/2004, especially if the airline could have mitigated the disruption.
However, he added that it's a 'grey area'.
'Airlines are not required to pay compensation if a delay or missed flight was due to factors outside their control, such as political instability, extreme weather, or airport staff strikes (which includes border control issues not managed by the airline).
'But, if the airline could have reasonably foreseen the disruption, for example, repeated border delays and failed to act, it has been known for courts to have sometimes ruled in favour of the passenger.
'For instance, they may argue the airline should have allowed more time for security and border procedures or co-ordinated better.
'Either way passengers have a right to care and rebooking.'
Vinci Airports, which operates the three airports under its ANA Aeroportos de Portugal subsidiary, has been contacted for comment.
British tourists have begun using e-gates at Faro Airport after a deal was struck with the UK government.
Since Brexit, Britons arriving at EU airports have generally been forced to queue for manned desks to have their passports stamped, rather than use automated gates with facial recognition technology – leading to long waits, particularly during peak periods.
The Portuguese airport has started the rollout of e-gate access to British arrivals after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed an agreement with EU leaders last month.
It hopes the deal will smooth over 'legal barriers to e-gates use for UK nationals', once a new stamp-free biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) launches in October.
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