Harsh and blunt warning from Ryanair that travellers need to be aware of

Ryanair Boss Michael O’Leary’s has a blunt warning for anyone using the popular airline to fly this summer.

What Ryanair’s boss actually said

Speaking on The Travel Expert podcast, Ryanair’s chief executive made clear that late passengers will simply be left behind. “We will not wait for anybody,” he said. “Our priority is to those passengers who are at the boarding gate when boarding starts. If you’re not at the boarding gate when we finish boarding, the plane is going without you.”

Blame for the growing number of missed flights, he suggested, lies squarely with travellers themselves rather than the airline. O’Leary used the same appearance to brand the EU’s handling of border checks “dumb”, taking aim at Commission President Ursula von der Leyen directly. Strong words, but highlighting a very real problem building at airports across Spain and Europe.

Why so many passengers are being caught out

Root cause of this chaos is the EU’s Entry/Exit System, the biometric border check that became fully compulsory in April. Non-EU arrivals, including every UK passport holder, now have fingerprints and facial scans logged on both entry and exit, replacing the old passport stamp entirely.

Queues of up to three hours have been reported at busy Schengen airports since the rollout, with holidaymakers frequently cutting it fine between clearing border control and reaching their gate. Hundreds of travellers across multiple airlines, Ryanair included, have already watched their aircraft depart without them this year.

Earlier this month, families were warned to they are not exempt from the huge border queues after Brussels rejected calls for a summer-long suspension of EES checks. Just over a week later, a strange case showing the unpredictability the new biometric system can be when the machines got confused over a set of twins.

What holidaymakers and flyers need to know

Padding out your schedule is the simplest form of protection available. Airlines and airports are now recommending arrival at least three hours before departure for flights out of the busiest airports.

Checking in online and travelling with hand luggage only, where possible, cuts out extra steps that eat into gate time. Building in a buffer for security and EES queues, rather than assuming a smooth passage, could be the difference between making your flight and watching it leave without you. Most importantly check your passport dates are inline with current EU rules.