Originally Posted by
James Russell
Have you considered that your problem might simply not be a priority for Ryanair to deal with?
If you're the only person complaining about it why would they spend time and money fixing it? i've no idea what fixing it would entail but at the very least it's going to require communicating/training it to every relevant member of staff , checking they understand, incorporating it into whatever regular training they get, making sure the anomoly hasn't confused and that staff are implementing all of the immigration rules properly. It could be an enormous undertaking and all because one customer doesn't want to get a passport?
I see where you're coming from, but disagree on the following two accounts:
* As the Home Office communication clearly states that carriers "are not required to check...[pax's] entitlement to travel on a national ID card", and "only need to check that they have a valid passport or national ID card", I can't see what "enormous undertaking" is required. All it takes is instructing staff to summarily accept EEA/Swiss IDs for boarding just as prior to 1 October 2021,
even though they're not accepted at the UK border in most cases.
* I may possibly be the only one complaining about this dysfunctionality, but far from the only person affected (thus, "all because one customer doesn't want to get a passport" is inaccurate). I've seen numerous ID card holders in the relevant queues at LTN and STN (chiefly Bulgarians, Hungarians, Italians, Poles and Romanians), and those I asked all told me they were put on the knife-sharp edge of being denied boarding (regardless of carrier, mind you), and that people they know have been turned away. The problem is that the bulk of the travel community isn't as informed, let alone confident, about their rights as I am, so if wrongfully denied boarding and told to get lost, they'll think they're at fault just because handling staff say so.
As I said, how I'll deal with this for now is to email the handling agent a link and share code 1-2 days before departure so they can verify my immigration status, and, if necessary, phone the local Border Force at the gate and ask them to liaise with the handling agent (Border Force at STN, notably, are very helpful with this).
Besides that, the CAA are still looking into the matter, and I've also reached out to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. I'll see where I get.