Dozens miss flights after passport system failure in Lanzarote
A passport control system failure at Lanzarote Airport left dozens of passengers unable to board flights this morning (Monday), disrupting departures to destinations outside the European Union. The issue affected travellers trying to leave the island, with some missing their flights altogether.
The outage hit the automated passport control system used to register non-EU travellers, including those from the UK, as well as countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. The system is designed to monitor stays of up to 90 days, prevent overstays and identity fraud, and speed up border checks, although it has suffered several recent faults.
One Ryanair flight from Lanzarote to Edinburgh was particularly affected, with nearly 70 passengers left behind due to the disruption. By around 11:00am, the airport’s operations had already been partially impacted, causing delays and confusion in departure areas.
Sources from the National Police have confirmed the incident was caused by a failure in the passport control system. Other sources suggested a wider disconnection issue across Europe, which slowed systems at multiple airports. The problem was resolved by midday, but not before causing a huge inconvenience for many.
The disruption comes just days after Ryanair called on the Spanish government to suspend the new Entry/Exit System (EES) until after the summer. The system is used to track non-EU travellers entering and leaving the Schengen area and has been linked to longer processing times.
Ryanair has warned that airports including Lanzarote, Tenerife South, Gran Canaria, Málaga and Alicante are already seeing queues of up to two hours. The airline claims some passengers have missed flights as a result and has criticised staffing levels, while pointing to Greece’s decision to pause the system during peak summer travel.
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