Ryanair boss says passport checks for departing passengers are 'pointless'

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Passport checks on outbound passengers seem pointless given that people are leaving the country,’ says Michael O'Leary

Ryanair’s chief executive has blasted European officials for imposing “pointless” passport checks that are delaying flights and causing passengers to miss their plane.

In the peak month for Mediterranean holidays, British travellers are encountering problems as a result of a new European regulation that came into effect in April.

It requires every passport to be compared electronically against the “Schengen Information System”, a big pan-European database, as well as Interpol’s list of stolen and lost travel documents. As a result, processing times have sharply increased, leading to disruption.

Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair, told The Independent that the new system was full of flaws: “They’re impacting our passengers; some of our passengers are missing their flights, they’re impacting our punctuality.

“What’s different with European airports is that they have these ludicrous passport checks on outbound passengers, which seems to me to be somewhat pointless given that people are leaving the country.

“So we’re pushing, we’re lobbying with European airports as best we can, but ultimately they need to put more staffing in place at the border control agencies and that takes time.”

In response to the outcry about long queues due to enhanced checks, the aviation minister Lord Callanan, said: “We understand the frustration of holidaymakers facing long queues as they start their breaks.

“While border arrangements for Schengen countries are not in the UK government’s control, I will be speaking to my counterparts in Portugal, Spain and Italy to urge them to do all they can to reduce queues and allow travellers to get on with their holidays.

“Clearly it is right that other EU countries have appropriate border controls, but it is also in everyone’s interests that tourists are able to start their holidays and spend money across Europe.”

There are also concerns about the staffing of the security checkpoints at some European airports.

“We flew from Barcelona last Monday morning,” tweeted Paul Cannon. “Queue through security was nearly out the doors of the terminal. Need to arrive in plenty of time.”

Ryanair has become the first European airline to carry one billion passengers. The Irish carrier was founded only in 1985, much later than airlines such as Air France and Lufthansa, but now flies one in nine of all European passengers.