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  "path": "/news/ryanair-flight-lanzarote-bristol-chaos-passengers-abandoned-lanzarote",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-02T07:08:23.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "British beachgoers horrified as plane crashes in front of them and pilot 'crawls from wreckage'",
    "Furious passenger slams Virgin Atlantic after served 'pitiful' vegan sandwich with mouldy veg",
    "British Airways crew 'rushed to hospital after being spiked with drug-laced sweets'",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA Ryanair flight is said to have left nearly 90 passengers behind at the Spanish island of Lanzarote after severe delays.\n\nThe flight, from Lanzarote to Bristol, reportedly left half empty - leaving some 89 passengers behind after delays at passport control.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nDelays in the non-Schengen passport control area are said to have led to airline staff losing patience.\n\nThe staff removed their suitcases from the plane - which took nearly an hour before it took off.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nThe flight landed in Bristol 52 minutes late, according to newspaper La Voz de Lanzarote.\n\nIt remains unclear if the passengers were able to return home and how long they were stranded in Spain.\n\nLast year, 17 non-EU flights arrived at the airport and collapsed its passport control.\n\nTravellers at the time said the airport did not have enough police to carry out passport control checks.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nIn August, the president of the Chamber of Commerce of Lanzarote, Jose Valle, said the implementation of the new European entry and exit control system (EES) could cause \"serious collapse\" at Lanzarote airport.\n\nThe automated IT system allows non-EU and non-Schengen citizens on short stays, alongside all EU citizens, to scan their passport and provide biometric checks without interacting with a person.\n\nThe full rollout of the new border system will come into force on April 10.\n\nThe EU has aimed to digitalise its borders, with new travel rules for non-visa national entering the Schengen area.\n\n### TRAVEL CHAOS - READ MORE:\n\n\n\n\n\n  * British beachgoers horrified as plane crashes in front of them and pilot 'crawls from wreckage'\n  * Furious passenger slams Virgin Atlantic after served 'pitiful' vegan sandwich with mouldy veg\n  * British Airways crew 'rushed to hospital after being spiked with drug-laced sweets'\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAir transport organisations have called for urgent action to combat \"chronic border control understaffing\" and \"unresolved technology issues\", which may lead to significantly longer wait times in Lanzarote this summer.\n\nSome industry sources suggested the wait may have been linked to the dispute between Ryanair and the company which runs Spanish airports.\n\nRyanair has been in a spat with Spain's AENA, the state-owned operators of airports within the country, stemming from increased airport charges.\n\nRyanair has cut traffic to Spain's regional airports, slashing over a million seats to certain Spanish routes and saying AENA does not \"understand how to take advantage of Spain’s airport infrastructure to boost traffic, tourism and employment\".\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nThe airline claimed AENA was installing monopolistic fee increases, particularly at under-used Regional airports.\n\nIn September, AENA said Ryanair was acting dishonestly, and had a \"disturbingly plutocratic idea of the political system\".\n\nThe organisation gave a litany of reasons as to why they could not change their fees.\n\n\"A country such as Spain where tourism and air transport are so crucial for its economy, citizens’ welfare and regional cohesion, cannot design and formulate its airport system according to the spurious and selfish interests of a single airline,\" AENA concluded.\n\nRyanair has been approached for comment.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter **",
  "title": "Ryanair flight chaos as 89 passengers 'abandoned at Lanzarote airport'"
}