Ryanair sounded the alarm for fire supervisor after hundreds of people were stuck after missing a flight after suffering “unacceptable” issues at several Portuguese airports.
The budget airline revealed that 270 travelers were affected by queues and a disastrous staff shortage at check-in. Hardhits in particular are popular destinations in Faro, Lisbon and Porto, reporting that individuals have crushed up to two and a half hours of waits.
In a statement released Monday, Ryanair condemned the airport's crisis, branding it as “completely unacceptable” and issued a request to control the worsening staffing fiasco in Portugal's new administration.
“In the past two weeks, more than 270 passengers have missed flights at these airports due to excessive delays caused by understaffed border control,” the airline said.
The saga began in earnest on May 26th, triggering an alert from Ryanair about a light-form of a family with a tired young man in the vedrum. The mirror is the worst during the morning rush hour when the influx of travelers outweighs the capabilities of understaffed border patrols, reported Mirror.
Ryanair, pointing his finger at airport management company Anna, has denounced the operators for inadequate planning for predictable spikes in summer travel numbers. “The new government should take urgent measures to ensure that border control at Portugal airports are equipped with appropriate resources,” the airline pleaded with communications.
The airline urged immediate measures to prevent further disruption “especially during morning rush hour, to unfairly miss unnecessary delays and flights.”
Neil McMahon, Ryanair's operations director, labeled the situation as “unsustainable,” warning that things will get worse as air traffic increases over the summer months.
Portuguese Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Ruz, tried to alleviate concerns about escalation last week, ensuring that border control issues will be “resolved within two weeks.”
Meanwhile, PSP police have pledged to deploy 500 new officers to strengthen airport security and border posts in Lisbon, Porto, Madeira and the Azores from July.
In the interim, early reinforcements pushes are already underway at Faro Airport, where the situation is particularly severe. Passengers traveling in Portugal are now highly encouraged to arrive early at the airport or have remaining risks.
This follows reports from travel agencies, with thousands of British vacationers building traditional European destinations in favour of North Africa. Experts suggest that many people are attracted to the area as high-quality hotels are widely available in places such as Spain, France and Italy, which cost significantly more than similar facilities.
North African countries such as Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia have witnessed a surge in UK visitors. According to the Aviation Analysts Cirium, an estimated 19,847 flights are expected to be operated from UK airports to these countries this year, more than twice the 8,653 that was in 2019.
In contrast, flights to Spain and Portugal are projected to increase by 10% and 9% respectively over the same period.
