Lanzarote has reportedly asked the Spanish Government for more National Police officers at its airport to speed up processing British arrivals and departures.
It comes after a number of Brits said they’d missed their flight home because of delays at passport control, which have occurred since a recent order to Lanzarote border guards to stamp every British passport on arrival and departure.
Previously, not all passports were being stamped, especially on Thursdays, typically the busiest day of the week for UK departures. However, Brits had complained that if their passports weren’t stamped, they had no evidence they’d left the island, which could prevent them re-entering the EU.
Since the order to border guards to stamp all passports from third-party countries, Canaries publication Gazette Life reported that some arrivals have been held in queues for ‘several hours’.
And last Wednesday, Ryanair admitted that a number of passengers missed a flight from Lanzarote to London Stansted due to delays at passport control. In a statement to The Sun, the airline said: “We regret that these airport passport delays at Lanzarote Airport, which are entirely out of our control, caused passengers to miss their flight.”
In an official statement, Lanzarote President Oswaldo Betancort, described the situation as ‘unacceptable’, saying visitors were being forced to queue due to inadequate staffing at airport security checkpoints.
He said: “We cannot afford for visitors’ first impression of our island to be one of long queues and lack of attention due to lack of police staffing. It is crucial to enhance airport security services to uphold Lanzarote’s reputation as a top-quality holiday destination.”
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It comes after a number of Brits said they’d missed their flight home because of delays at passport control, which have occurred since a recent order to Lanzarote border guards to stamp every British passport on arrival and departure.
Previously, not all passports were being stamped, especially on Thursdays, typically the busiest day of the week for UK departures. However, Brits had complained that if their passports weren’t stamped, they had no evidence they’d left the island, which could prevent them re-entering the EU.
Since the order to border guards to stamp all passports from third-party countries, Canaries publication Gazette Life reported that some arrivals have been held in queues for ‘several hours’.
And last Wednesday, Ryanair admitted that a number of passengers missed a flight from Lanzarote to London Stansted due to delays at passport control. In a statement to The Sun, the airline said: “We regret that these airport passport delays at Lanzarote Airport, which are entirely out of our control, caused passengers to miss their flight.”
In an official statement, Lanzarote President Oswaldo Betancort, described the situation as ‘unacceptable’, saying visitors were being forced to queue due to inadequate staffing at airport security checkpoints.
He said: “We cannot afford for visitors’ first impression of our island to be one of long queues and lack of attention due to lack of police staffing. It is crucial to enhance airport security services to uphold Lanzarote’s reputation as a top-quality holiday destination.”
The post Lanzarote calls for more police at passport control as Brits complain they’re missing flights appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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