Ryanair passengers stuck in Athens after missing their flight due to long 'border check delays'
Dozens of passengers reportedly missed their flight from Athens International Airport to London Luton on Sunday
Ryanair passengers were stranded in Greece after their flight left without them in the latest instance of travel chaos as airports roll out new post-Brexit border checks.
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Around 20 to 50 passengers reportedly missed their flight from Athens International Airport to London Luton on Sunday after "mega-queues" formed at passport control and security.
The border delays come as many airports grapple with the new EU Entry-exit system (EES), which requires passengers to give them biometric data when they first enter the Schengen Area.
The system has led to delays across several European countries including Portugal, Spain and Italy.
The airport said it was experiencing "increased processing times as new border-control procedures continue to be implemented and refined" while Ryanair blamed border control delays. Neither explicitly pointed the finger at the EES system.
Read more: Britons face up to 'six-hour waits' at airports due to post-Brexit EU border checks
Greece's tourism minister Olga Kefalogianni previously indicated in April that Brits would not face biometric checks when travelling to the country this summer to avoid "burdening" them with bureaucracy.
However it's not clear whether that exemption still applies because the Greek Foreign Ministry later appeared to reverse the promise, saying it had no information that “specific nationalities are temporarily exempt from the relevant procedure.”
Milo Boyd, a journalist who successfully boarded the flight, said he did not have his fingerprints scanned when he entered or left Athens.
He said there was a "mega-queue" of hundreds of passengers at security and passport control.
Some passengers reportedly grew so frustrated that airport staff had to step in to maintain order.
Desperate travellers were "pleading" with Ryanair staff to be allowed on the plane, he told the BBC. Others inside the gate were shouting "you can't do this" and "this is your stupid airport's fault, how can you not let us on?" At least 20 people arrived at the gate too late to be let on board, he said.
A spokesperson for the airport said there had been "periods of congestion at passport control in the departures area due to high passenger volumes and the additional processing requirements associated with travel to non-Schengen destinations."
They said that, along with many airports in Europe, some flight routes might experience "increased processing times" while new border-control checks are rolled out and improved.
Ryanair said a number of passengers did not board the flight "due to delays caused by border control at Athens airport".
It said: "All passengers that were at the boarding gate when this flight from Athens to London Luton boarded, travelled without incident."
It is believed the flight missed its air traffic control slot and left an hour late after the bags of the stranded passengers were unloaded.
It comes after dozens of unfortunate passengers were stuck in Milan after missing their flight to Manchester due to the border checks.
Airlines are telling passengers to get to the airport three hours before flights back the UK. Michael O’Leary, the boss of Ryanair, has said his airline would not wait for passengers in queues.
He previously said: “Ryanair takes every passenger that is in the boarding gate when the boarding goes out. Passengers miss their flight not because we’ve left them behind but because they are stuck in somebody’s passport queue."