Flight FR4756 departed without passengers stuck in border control queues, with Ryanair removing their baggage from the aircraftKate Wilson Political Editor, Sarah Barltrop and Rita Sobot
15:37, 01 Mar 2026Updated 15:38, 01 Mar 2026
Ryanair has reportedly left 89 passengers in Lanzarote(Image: Getty)
Ryanair has left up to 89 passengers stranded on the Canary Island of Lanzarote owing to congestion at border control.
The airline reportedly chose not to wait for passengers to clear border control and removed their luggage from the aircraft, a process that took nearly an hour.
Flight FR4756, which departed at 3.15pm on Wednesday, February 25, from Lanzarote Airport, touched down at Bristol Airport 52 minutes behind schedule, reports the Express.
According to the Spanish publication, La Voz, the issue stemmed from border control, where travellers from outside the Schengen Area are required to have their passports stamped.
It reported that lengthy queues have been forming at border control on numerous occasions, resulting in flight delays and widespread frustration.
A Ryanair spokesperson said: “Due to passport control delays at Lanzarote Airport (25 Feb), a number of passengers missed this flight from Lanzarote to Bristol.
“Should these passengers have presented at the boarding gate desk before it closed, they would have boarded this flight alongside the 90 passengers who did present at the gate on time.”
It remains unclear what became of the travellers left behind and whether they were forced to stay overnight.
This isn’t the first occasion that such an incident has taken place at Lanzarote Airport. In February 2025, the simultaneous arrival of 17 non-EU flights overwhelmed the airport as passengers required their passports to be stamped upon arrival.
José Valle, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote and La Graciosa, raised concerns back in August 2025 over the introduction of the new European Entry/Exit System (EES), predicting it could trigger “serious collapses” at Lanzarote airport.
The airport has also faced criticism over lengthy, persistent queues at taxi and bus ranks, with passengers waiting as long as two hours.
The situation has also been covered by English ex-pat publication Canarian Weekly, which suggested the disruption could be driven by Ryanair’s dissatisfaction with rising airport charges levied by Spanish aviation authority Aena.
It reported: “Some industry sources suggest the decision may be linked to Ryanair’s ongoing frustration with Spain over increased airport charges introduced by AENA, though the airline has not formally commented on the incident.”
Ryanair has since issued a statement venting its anger at Aena over its price increases, describing the hike in airport taxes as the “nail in the coffin” for regional connectivity, and warning that costs were “spiralling out of control”.
The statement added: “The only reason Ryanair and other airlines are cutting traffic at Spain’s regional airports – which are now empty by more than 70% – is that Aena’s excessive fares are diverting that traffic to more competitive airports elsewhere in Europe. That is the economic reality of monopoly prices.”
The carrier revealed that whilst it would boost its summer traffic by 11% in Morocco, 9% in Italy and 60% in Albania, growth at Spanish airports this summer would be less than 0.5%.
“The reason why we are boosting tourism markets in other countries and not in Spain is simple: access costs in other countries are significantly more competitive, and there the growth in passenger numbers is rewarded with lower rates,” the airline stated.
“Aena is doing just the opposite, and the Spanish regions are paying the price for this failed policy with loss of connectivity, loss of economic growth and loss of jobs.”
As Spain’s largest airline, Ryanair expressed its desire to expand its operations in the country, welcoming the chance to enter into talks with Aena.
It added: “But as long as Aena’s monopoly clings to a failed policy of high prices, traffic in Spain’s regions will continue to bleed to other countries, depriving citizens of the connectivity they deserve to travel for business, visit friends and family, and access tourist opportunities from their local airports.”