EasyJet passenger stranded in Milan for four days after EU border chaos

An EasyJet customer has told ITV News she missed her flight home from Milan due to EU border chaos despite arriving at the airport four hours early.

Lily-Mae Bridgehouse, from Oldham, is among the more than 100 passengers who didn’t make their flight to Manchester on Sunday because of long queues at passport control in Milan Linate Airport.

The 23-year-old, who was flying alone for the first time, said she was forced to take four days of unpaid leave as a result of the cancellation. The next available flight only leaves on Thursday.

It comes as travellers face big delays and long queues at some airports in Europe following the implementation of the EU’s new Entry/Exit system (EES).

The system, which replaces passport stamps with biometric checks, is designed to be more efficient, but teething issues are causing frustration for many passengers trying to return to the UK.

Ms Bridgehouse said she arrived at the airport four hours early and had plenty of time before her 10.30am flight was assigned a gate.

At 9.30am, the flight had been assigned a gate number, and she was told by a member of staff to join a queue.

“We were stood in the queue for about an hour and a half… probably even longer,” she told ITV News, adding that staff kept calling people for London Gatwick and London Heathrow but not for Manchester.

When Ms Bridgehouse and some other passengers went to ask for updates, she said staff told them: “Don’t worry, it’s not going to leave without you, it will stay here until you all board.”

But as the queue slowly budged forward, the flight was no longer listed on the departure board, she said.

She said: “After about half an hour, we asked again, saying, ‘Why hasn’t it gone on the board yet? Why haven’t we gone through yet? It’s about half 11, surely we’ve missed the flight.

“She came back to us and said, ‘It’s gone, so I said, ‘What do you mean it’s gone? I need to be on that flight, I have work tomorrow I have kids I need to get home to’.

“They said, ‘There’s nothing we can do, it’s gone, you need to come out of the queue'”.

Ms Bridgehouse said she struggles with anxiety, making her ordeal all the more difficult.

She said she started “getting really panicky” when customers were led all the way back through departures and told to go down some stairs and outside, adding: “I was a mess. I was terrified.”

Passengers were eventually ushered to an easyJet desk where they were handed a sheet of paper confirming that their flight had been cancelled, Ms Bridgehouse said.

The earliest flight she could find to Manchester was four days later from Milano Malpensa Airport, which she booked.

Her partner was staying in Milan for business, so she took a bus back into the city to stay with him.

After a lengthy call with easyJet’s customer service, she was told she’d have to pay £52 to switch to the Thursday flight.

However, she said that does not make up for the extra expenses she has incurred staying in Milan, nor the four days of missed work for which her employer says it cannot pay her.

EasyJet told ITV News they refunded the alternative EasyJet flight Ms Bridgehouse booked, including the cancellation fee.

“While the issue was due to delays in EES processing, which is outside our control, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused,” easyJet said.

“We continue to urge border authorities to ensure they make full and effective use of the permitted flexibilities for as long as needed so our customers’ travel plans are not impacted,” they added.

“It’s made me really nervous to return, going to that new airport, because I’m thinking it’s just going to happen all over again and I’m going to be stuck here even longer. It has really knocked my confidence,” she said.

“We just want someone to take accountability for it, apologise, and promise that it’s not going to happen again, or that they’re going to have things in place moving forward to make it easier.”

ITV News has contacted Milan’s Linate Airport for comment.