The issue was causing disruption to the Entry/Exit System
12:37, 05 May 2026Updated 15:45, 05 May 2026
A Ryanair flight bound for Lanzarote was said to be among the worst affected (Image: PA)
Dozens of passengers were reportedly left stranded at Lanzarote Airport on Monday May 4 due to a passport control system error. An Edinburgh-bound Ryanair flight was among the worst affected, with nearly 70 passengers said to be left behind as a result of the disruption
The issue impacted passengers heading to destinations outside the European Union, Canarian Weekly reports. The outage impacted the airport’s Entry/Exit System, which is used to register third-country nationals such as Brits.
Under the EES travellers need to supply biometric data including fingerprints and a photograph to create a digital record which will be valid for three years and replaces passport stamping. The system is designed to speed up passport checks and monitor how long visa-free travellers are staying in the EU.
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But it has been plagued with delays with long queues building up at passport control. Last month nearly 100 Manchester-bound passengers were stranded in Milan after getting stuck at the border.
Now, Lanzarote Airport is the latest to experience disruption. Operations were reportedly impacted by 11am, “causing delays and confusion in departure areas”.
Lanzarote is a popular holiday destination among Brits (Image: Getty Images)
Canarian Weekly claims that the incident was caused by “a failure in the passport control system” according to National Police sources, while it said that other sources “suggested a wider disconnection issue across Europe, which slowed systems at multiple airports.” It reports that the problem was resolved by midday.
Aena, Spain’s airport operating body said that passport control falls under the control of the Ministry of the Interior and the National Police, both of which have been contacted for more information. Ryanair told the M.E.N that all passengers who were at the boarding gate when the flight boarded were accommodated and travelled without incident. The airline stated that some passengers missed thier flight as they were not in the boarding gate area when boarding for their flight opened and closed.
The airline has recently urged governments across the EU to scrap the EES during the busy travel period. It wrote to governments in 29 countries calling on them to suspend the new entry requirements.
The airline’s chief operations officer Neal McMahon said: “Governments across Europe are attempting to roll out a half-baked IT system in the middle of the busiest travel season of the year, and passengers are paying the price, being forced to endure hours long passport control queues and in some cases, missing flights.
“The solution is simple and already provided for under EU law (EU Reg. 2025/1534) – Governments should suspend EES until September when the peak summer travel season has subsided, just as Greece has done. This would allow passengers – many of whom are travelling with young families – a smoother airport experience for their summer holidays.”
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