flight/airport issues Tenerife South 31/12/24

craig_Bond

We arrived at a very busy airport and then Ryanair check-in area (Tui booked holiday which included Ryanair flights) where several desks were open but the queue moved slowly. As we neared the halfway point, 4 desks closed, further slowing the check-in process. We was in the queue over two hours before our flight. And remained in that queue until 16:45 after arriving at the airport at 15:30 for a 17:40 flight.

After we checked in, we proceeded to security without any issues, and then we entered the departure area, where we had to join a lengthy queue for passport control. This queue, specifically for families, was extremely long (over 200 people).

Non-family passengers could scan their passports and move through quickly, but this was not an option for families. We spoke to a staff member with a clipboard multiple times to explain our situation, but no help was offered.

Eventually, as we neared the front of the queue, the staff member closed the doors, preventing any further passengers from boarding the flight. By the time we reached the gate at 17:35, the flight had already set to depart, and no assistance was provided other than to collect our luggage and visit the Ryanair desk.

At the desk, we were informed that we would have to pay for a new flight to return home on 01/01/25 at a cost of £247.27. There was no support offered for accommodation, and we were told we could sleep at the airport. This was not a feasible option, especially with our young child. Fortunately, a friend on the island offered us a place to stay, resulting in additional taxi and food costs.

The following day, we returned to the airport and successfully boarded the rebooked flight.

Additionally, due to the flight disruption, I was unable to contact Leeds Bradford’s short-stay parking service to extend our parking, resulting in a further charge of £40.00 upon landing.

Request for Compensation: The situation was caused by Ryanair's lack of adequate staff and organisation, and as a result, we have incurred significant unexpected expenses. We were in the airport well in time for our flight and it was no fault of ours that we missed it. I am requesting compensation for the additional costs we have incurred, which total £426.19.

I trust that TUI will take this matter seriously and look forward to your prompt response and resolution. As you can see from below photos and Facebook posts this was a major issue.

Tui refusing to do anything just advising its Ryanair's fault contact them. Ryanair are refusing to do anything and just stating we missed our slight and we give guidelines on when to be there! Nobody accepting we was there and missed our flight due to staffing and a joke of management of queuing! Don't know where to turn now we had insurance btw but only covers cancelled or delayed flights.

Voyager2002

Ryanair are not responsible for passport control.

Your experience is a polite hint from the Spanish authorities that they would rather not have so many British tourists (had you been travelling to a Schengen country there would not have been any passport control).

Did TUI arrange your airport transfer? If so, you might have a claim against them.

Caz3121

There have been many media reports in the press since the end of October re the chaos at Tenerife airport for passengers departing - check-in queues, security queues and passport queues and people missing flights.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/lifestyle/travel/shocking-security-queues-canary-islands-34006297

I agree that if TUI arranged your transfers they cut it too fine and would go back to them. Alternatively you could try your travel insurance.

Neil49

We were departing from Tenerife South at 6pm last Friday and it was the complete opposite of what you describe.

Checkin with Ryanair (at 4pm) took around 15 minutes, security was virtually empty and passport control was a couple of minutes. 

NoodleDoodleMan

Maybe New Years Eve was exceptional ?

Doshwaster

One of the problems with TFS is that the non-Schengen gates are at the far end of the terminal beyond passport control in the new extension.  If you do the route regularly then you know this but if you don't then it's easy to get caught out while having something to eat or drink in the central area.

It's very unpredictable, sometimes it's not a problem but if there a few UK flights leaving at similar times then there can be queues to get through the passport check. I try to get through with plenty of time to spare. There are snack facilities and toilets in the non-Schengen area so there is no need to linger outside.

heatherw_01

Not sure why you think Ryanair would be responsible for passport control?
You would not get compensation from them for this as it is out of their control.

Queues, especially at peak times such as New Years Eve, can be huge or they can be very quick. New Years Eve is a busy day as many travel that day.
You should allow even more time at the airport at peak times and get there much earlier.

Were you not able to check in online? That could have saved some time too.

JenKKR

We just had this exact same issue on Saturday 12th April. Got to the gate 5 mins after it closed. Man at passport control told us to wait in line despite me telling him our flght was on a final call.
I had my 3 children with me and we had no clue how to get our luggage back or anything. No one wanted to help us. I felt like they didn't want us there. 
At luggage reclaim we found another bunch of people who were in the same boat as us with the queues. We couldn't wait so we booked on another flight that night with jet2.

Westin

JenKKR said:

We just had this exact same issue on Saturday 12th April. Got to the gate 5 mins after it closed. Man at passport control told us to wait in line despite me telling him our flght was on a final call.
I had my 3 children with me and we had no clue how to get our luggage back or anything. No one wanted to help us. I felt like they didn't want us there. 
At luggage reclaim we found another bunch of people who were in the same boat as us with the queues. We couldn't wait so we booked on another flight that night with jet2.

The key is to make your way through Schengen passport control and to the gate area in good time for your flight.

"Man at passport control told us to wait in line despite me telling him our flight was on a final call" - Probably because they hear this plea to queue jump all the time.  It is also not really fair on all the other 'on-time' passengers we are diligently waiting their turn having arrived in good time to have people trying to queue jump.

"I had my 3 children with me and we had no clue how to get our luggage back or anything. No one wanted to help us. I felt like they didn't want us there" - quite sure that they would rather you were on the flight as well.  They likely don't have the staff levels or time to waste with people who arrive late at the boarding gate.  Once one flight is boarded the move on to the next flight.  

JenKKR

The queue was ridiculously long. We had 30 mins from the gate being announced to the gate closing which wasn't enough time. I've since heard of an app that will tell you the gate before it's on the board so I've downloaded that for the future. 

I showed the man the final call notification. The man as we had to go back through passport control was confused as the plane was still there.

This was our first holiday travelling as a family abroad, im not a seasoned traveller like many are so lots of lessons learned. I didn't even know that we could have had special assistance as both my son's are autistic and really struggled with the queues.