Around 100 British passengers were left stranded overnight in Milan on April 12, 2026, after a three-hour queue at passport control caused them to miss their EasyJet flight back to Manchester. The incident has reignited debate about the EU’s controversial Entry/Exit System (EES) — the new digital border control framework that is causing significant delays at European airports — and raised urgent questions about what passengers can do when an airline departs without them.
What Happened at Milan Linate?
The affected passengers were due to board EasyJet flight EJU5420 from Milan Linate Airport to Manchester Airport on the morning of April 12. Upon reaching the passport control area, they encountered enormous queues that stretched back for hours. The cause was the implementation of the EU Entry/Exit System at the airport, combined with the failure of automated e-gates that would normally process passengers more quickly — forcing everyone through slower manual passport checking lanes staffed by just two officers.
EasyJet held the flight for nearly an hour beyond its scheduled departure time to give passengers more time to clear the queues. However, with the crew approaching the legal limit of their regulated working hours, the aircraft was eventually required to depart. The passengers who had not yet cleared passport control were left behind on the ground.
Reports from those stranded described scenes of considerable distress. Passengers were fainting in the heat of the queues, some with young children in tow. One family described being stuck in the airport with a five-year-old, unsure of how they were going to get home and facing the prospect of booking alternative flights at very short notice and considerable expense.
What Is the EU Entry/Exit System?
The EU Entry/Exit System is a new digital border management programme designed to replace the traditional physical stamping of passports when non-EU nationals — including British citizens since Brexit — enter or leave the Schengen Area. Under EES, travellers have their fingerprints and facial image registered digitally, creating a record of entries and exits that is intended to improve border security and identify overstayers.
The system has been in the works for several years and was repeatedly delayed before beginning its rollout. While the intention behind EES is understandable, the practical implementation has exposed significant problems at airports that have not had the infrastructure investment or staffing levels required to process passengers efficiently through the new system. When e-gates fail — as they did at Milan Linate on April 12 — the system effectively collapses into extremely slow manual processing, with consequences like the one this family experienced.
EasyJet’s Response
EasyJet issued a statement acknowledging the situation and confirmed that all affected passengers have been offered a free flight transfer to get them home. The airline emphasised that it held the flight as long as operationally possible and that the decision to depart was made under the constraints of aviation safety regulations governing crew working hours — not a commercial decision.
While the offer of a free flight transfer is a positive response, it does not fully address the costs incurred by passengers who had to book emergency accommodation in Milan overnight, arrange alternative onward transport from whichever replacement airport they were rerouted through, or miss work and other commitments as a result of the delay.
What Are Passengers’ Legal Rights?
The legal picture in this situation is somewhat complex. EU261/2004 — the regulation that governs passenger rights for flights to and from the EU — covers compensation for flight cancellations and significant delays that are within the airline’s control. However, when a passenger misses a flight due to passport control queues caused by government border policies, the situation is less clear-cut.
Airlines typically argue that border control delays are outside their control, which would ordinarily exclude them from compensation liability. However, consumer rights experts suggest that passengers who incurred specific additional costs — hotel accommodation, replacement flights, transport — should document all expenses carefully and submit a formal claim to EasyJet, as there may be goodwill compensation available even where legal entitlement is uncertain.
The Civil Aviation Authority has been asked to provide guidance on how EES-related delays interact with passenger rights regulations, and clearer rules may emerge as the system is rolled out more widely across European airports.
A Warning to UK Travellers
As more European airports implement EES, British travellers should factor in significantly longer border control queues when travelling in and out of the Schengen Area. Arriving at the airport well in advance of departure — at least three hours for international departures where EES is in operation — is now advisable, particularly at busier airports or at peak travel times. The era of breezing through EU airports with a quick e-gate scan is, for British passport holders, firmly in the past.