fergus

Just noticed this on check in to Ryanair flight. They are saying that if you are travelling on non-EU ID document, e.g. UK passport, you must present yourself at the check in desk to have your documents stamped on arrival at the airport.
Anyone else come across this. This is new to me.

rafikiphoto

Which route was this for?

fergus

So I have had a chat with Ryanair using their online chat - which has been useful in the past. Here is the gist of the dialogue...

Ryanair operator says..that we need to go to document check in when we arrive at the airport and have our passports checked.
I said that is what they do at the gate.
Operator says I should do what it says on website.
--then some more back and forth dialogue until...
I say, but I have boarding pass and I am checked in and the instructions on the boarding pass are to go to the gate, nothing about using a document check in desk at the airport.
Operator says they want to check your passport. I can give you the airport number, to check with them. Number turns out to be 0871 number which is premium rate.
I asked operator, do you have a dedicated ryanair document check in at the airport.
Operator says no.
I asked if they do not have a dedicated document check in at the airport how can I go to it?
Response from operator ---As far as I know, staff can check it at the baggage-check, please or at the gate, but you need to contact with the airport where are they check-it.
My reply..I know the same as you. They can check at the gate as they always have. Therefore, is there really a need to go to baggage check in and queue and wait when we have no baggage to check in.
Operator response.. In this case, you can go to the gates, please.

Well, now, aren't we all so much the wiser!

I will update you once the flight is over.

chislenko

I fear things are only going to get worse / more confusing Fergus.

Lou71

There was a sign at Malaga airport which said that only EU/EEA nationals could avoid the Ryanair check in procedure. For us this was a rare occasion when we only had holdalls and were running late. I'm Irish and my partner is still British but they let us off because of my passport and my partner is resident in Portugal.

Thanks to Brexit, travel is going to be much more difficult and restricted for UK nationals in the future with ETHIAS and EES coming online. Here is an interesting link which explains why non EU nationals need to be checked:

https://www.etiasvisa.com/etias-news/ees-europe-etias-visa

This is also interesting:

https://help.ryanair.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360017683237-Non-EU-EEA-Passengers-Visa-Check

GrahamF

On our flights from Lisbon with Ryanair this year, everyone with baggage using check in desks was having documents checked (plf, vac Cert etc) and a paper slip issued saying documents checked, to avoid re-checking again at the gate. Those without hold baggage who went straight to the gate were having them checked there. The change appears to be everyone goes to check in desk and has to print boarding pass rather than using phone, maybe the boarding pass will be stamped, I doubt they will be stamping vaccination certificates. If they carry passengers without correct documents who are refused entry, they are responsible for bringing them back and can be fined.

fergus

Thanks LOU71. It is interesting that the ryanair web page you refer to, after saying that you need to get documents checked follows this immediately with the next sentence..."Your boarding pass will display this information for routes that you must comply with this Visa/Document checks requirement". The boarding passes we have make no mention of having to go to the document check in.
Out of interest, did your boarding pass show that you needed to have your documents checked before you passed through airport security?

robbie20

I have been to Faro airport from Leeds Bradford 3 times this year. Had to do that with both Ryanair and Jet 2.

No way round it.

robbie20

The reason we had to go to the desk was to check the passenger locator form, which of course is not done until 48 hrs before you fly.

fergus

We have flown a few times with the covid requirements. Including passenger locator forms. the last time was the end of September. The passenger locator forms where checked at the gate. I should mention that we have no checked in luggage. The notice on ryanair's web site states that only people with non EU-ID's need to check in before going through airport security. I am an EU citizen with EU passport, so I do not need to have it checked before I go through security, but my wife has UK passport, so she needs to queue up while people drop off bags, etc., etc., just so that they can check her documents, but not mine.
However, the printed boarding passes we have show that we can go to the gate and there is nothing on the boarding passes to say that we need to have documents checked before going through airport security.
Maybe it depends whether you have baggage or not?
And as posted earlier the ryanair web site that says you must have your documents checked before airport security, the next sentence is..."Your boarding pass will display this information for routes that you must comply with this Visa/Document checks requirement". And our boarding pass does not display that this is a requirement.
So all very confusing.

robbie20

I did not have any baggage to check in on any of the flights.

I am a UK citizen, so I suppose that is why I have to queue up just to have the passenger locator form checked.

Lou71

Fergus, this gets more and more interesting!

We can't access the apps now but we have looked at the boarding passes that we downloaded for printing just in case of any problems and we have just looked at them. They do mention the issuing authority of the passport ie Ireland and UK in our case but they don't explicitly state that non EU nationals have to get their documents checked. However, this does mean they have the ability to differentiate between EU and non EU nationals.

Lou71

I don't think this is about the passenger locator form, I think it's about immigration status and overstaying in the Schengen area.

macliam

This may be completely irrelevant, given the way things change nowadays, but I returned Faro-Stansted on Jet2 at the end of last month with just hand-baggage - and this is how things panned out for me...

At first, the website said that no boarding cards could be obtained online and that I would have to check-in at a Jet2 desk to get my boarding card. I find "helpdesks" an anathema, rarely any help and often the opposite, so I ignored that option and arranged to arrive at Faro extra early, expecting a long wait.

Then, a few days before the due date, I checked again and the system allowed me to check-in online and allocated me a seat number. The boarding card was available online, so, feeling smug, I printed a hard-copy "just in case" at the same time as getting prints of the Covid test result and my UK location document (having completed the process online).

On the day, I still arrived at Faro early, but expected to go straight to the gate and onwards - however, I decided to check at the Jet2 booking desk as I passed it (there was no queue). The girl at the desk said I still needed to go to the check-in desk, as Jet2 needed to check all my Covid documentation before I could board the plane.

So, unwillingly, I went to the check-in desk - but found only about 25 passengers there and 4 desks open. I was third in my queue and got to the desk within about 5-10 minures. My documents were checked very thoroughly and a new boarding pass was printed off as Jet2 were rebalancing the load onboard. This only took a few minutes.

Then I was off to the security gate, which was the longest delay - but still only about 15 minutes - and about 30 minutes after my arrival at the airport, I was through security and walking to the departure lounge..... It was all very straightforward, if a bit confusing - you just had to go with the flow.

Now, I know there was nothing then about stamping my passport (I'm Irish anyway), but Jet2 did need to check all my documents before I could go through security, despite the fact I had "checked-in" online and had a printed boarding card.

As I said at the outset, this was a month ago, in a fast-changing environment, and with Jet2 rather than Ryanair (who can usually be relied upon to make a pig's ear out of any process!) - but nevertheless the check-in process was very different to "normal" and I'm sure it would have been complicated had I just chanced to luck and gone straight to security.

Hope this helps.

Score76

A friend who works in the industry told me some months ago that uk border control introduced a fine against the airline for failing to check passengers met requirements to enter the UK. Great idea BTW, fine the airlines for not checking rather than pay out to bolster resources to check ourselves! When I last flew into the UK from Faro in September I also recall having to accept liability for these fines as part of the online check in procedure. So surely this is about money, airlines wanting to be thorough rather than be fined.