READ MORE: Passengers are stuck in tunnel for four hours as Eurostar service and then second train run by Southeastern BOTH break down See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy ERIN DEBORAH WAKS, TRAVEL WRITER Published: 09:40 BST, 4 June 2026 | Updated: 09:40 BST, 4 June 2026
A Ryanair flight heading from Toulouse to London took off without 150 of its passengers on board, as a result of lengthy queues at border control.Passengers were unable to reach their gate in time for flight FR282 to London Stansted on May 30.One woman travelling on the plane said the situation in the airport was 'pure chaos', with delays beginning after security. The passenger said around 400 or 500 people were all queueing in this area, and there was no real organisational system in place.She argued that this was a consequence of the large number of passengers arriving at the same time, with other flights due to board at the same time also affected.'You didn't join a queue, because there was no queue to join. There was just a scrummage of people,' she told The Connexion. One staff member trying to organise the queue could hardly be heard.On board the plane, the pilot reportedly announced that around 150 passengers had not been able to make it on board as a result. Travellers at Toulouse airport were stuck in long queues, meaning around 150 missed their flight to the UK (image supplied to The Connexion) The flight departed from Toulouse Blagnac airport on May 30A statement from Ryanair said: 'Due to delays caused by border control staff shortages at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport on 30 May, a number of passengers booked to travel from Toulouse to London Stansted were not in the boarding gate area when boarding for their flight closed and missed their flight from Toulouse to London Stansted.'All passengers that were at the boarding gate when this flight from Toulouse to London Stansted boarded were accommodated and travelled without incident.'It's not the first time passengers have missed a flight as a result of chaotic airport queues.The introduction of the Entry/Exit System (EES), which began rolling out on 10 April, means many UK passengers now need to register biometric details, such as fingerprints and facial recognition images, when entering the Schengen Area. The added checks are slowing processing times at some of the busiest airports in Europe just as travel demand picks up - affecting many flights. British airline passengers were recently left behind in Milan after their flight departed without them as a result of EES delays. The Ryanair flight from Milan Bergamo to Manchester took off on 16 April without a number of its passengers on board.Adam Hassanjee, 18, from Bolton - who was one of the stranded passengers - told the BBC: 'We were waiting for an hour and a half and weren't moving.'Then we see the plane leave and got told we have to go and book our own flight back.'Reports suggest around 30 people were left stranded, although Ryanair did not confirm exact numbers. The Daily Mail has contacted Toulouse Airport for comment.
