British passengers have been left stranded at Linate airport in Milan due to huge delays at border control have meant they missed their flight back to Manchester
More than 100 easyJet passengers are allegedly stranded in Milan after their flight left without them.
Many people have taken to social media to complain that they faced long queues of up to three hours at border control as they sought to fly out from the Italian city’s Linate airport.
And there are reports that some passengers had become ill after waiting in the heat for their easyJet flight on Sunday night back to Manchester Airport.
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“The airport held us back from joining the queue to allow the BA flight to go. We did everything that easyJet asked, got to the airport with 3 hours to spare. Went to the EES to be processed, which we were refused entry. 2 hours we stood there,” wrote one person on Facebook.
Easyjet reportedly said it was supporting passengers but that the situation was not in their control.
Kiera, 17, from Oldham, says she and her boyfriend now face a 20-hour wait at the airport until they could get another flight tomorrow. “We got here at 7.30pm for our flight at 11pm so were super early. We got to Border Control and it was a massive queue of people. I wasn’t feeling great anyway because I think I’d got food poisoning,” Kiera told the BBC.
“At about 10.50pm they brought some water over for people, and when we got to the front of the queue someone asked us if we were going to Manchester, and told us our flight had just gone. There were only about 30 people got on the plane, and about 100 people didn’t.” Kiera said that it will now cost £520 for new flights and they will have to travel to Gatwick rather than Manchester.
Another passenger Adam Lomas, 33, from Wakefield, has been left stranded with his wife Katy, 31, and their four-month-old daughter. He reportedly said: “We have been sat at the airport for hours. A few people have been on the phone to easyJet. I attempted to contact them but just got chatbots and then there were audio issues and they couldn’t hear me and after five or 10 minutes they hung up.
“We are trying to find a hotel and we are going to have to book a flight to London and then get from London to Manchester because our daughter’s babyseat is there.”
A spokesman for Easyjet has reportedly blamed delays at passport control over the new new European Entry/Exit System brought in last October. He said: “We are aware that some passengers departing from Milan Linate today experienced longer than usual waiting times at passport control and we advised customers due to fly to allow additional time to make their way through the airport.
“We have been doing all possible to minimise the impact of the airport queues, holding flights to allow customers extra time and providing free flight transfers for any customers who may have missed their flight including EJU5420 to Manchester.
“We continue to urge border authorities to ensure they make full and effective use of the permitted flexibilities for as long as needed while European Entry / Exit System is implemented, to avoid these unacceptable border delays for our customers. While this is outside of our control, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”
The Mirror has contacted easyJet for comment.
