The Hume family from Leeds missed their easyJet flight from Milan Linate to Manchester due to chaotic enforcement of the EU entry-exit system. Of the 156 passengers booked on easyJet flight 5420 to Manchester, only 34 boarded, leaving 122 behind in Italy. Frontier officials at Milan Linate demanded fingerprints and facial biometrics from all travelers, even though they had been collected on the way into Italy a week earlier, contrary to EU entry-exit system rules.
The European digital border control system, known as the Entry-Exit System or EES, requires non-EU citizens, including Britons, to register biometric information such as face scans and fingerprints, which can then be checked each time they cross a European Schengen Area border. The EES has been phased in since October and was meant to become fully operational on 10 April.
The introduction of the European digital border control system has been blamed for long delays at European airports. A spokesperson for the European Commission told the BBC the EES system was working very well in the overwhelming majority of EU member states, with no issues, but conceded there were a few member states where technical issues have been detected.
Passengers who were booked on other non-Schengen flights from Milan Linate on Sunday morning, including two British Airways flights to Heathrow and an easyJet flight to Gatwick, were allowed through passport control while Manchester passengers were held back. Border control is run by the relevant border control authority in each country rather than by the airport or airline.
Earlier this month, EasyJet left passengers behind in a similar incident at Milan Linate airport, which was also flying to Manchester. Ryanair passengers due to fly from Milan Bergamo to Manchester last week were left behind due to problems at passport control. According to one passenger, around 30 people were left stranded in the Milan Bergamo incident, though Ryanair did not say how many travelers were affected.
EasyJet said it is sorry for any inconvenience caused and that stranded passengers will be offered free transfers to alternative flights. Ryanair stated that if passengers had presented at the boarding gate desk before it closed, they would have boarded the flight.
The full scale of EES-related disruptions at European airports since its introduction remains unclear. Why frontier officials at Milan Linate were demanding full biometric checks again despite EU rules stating only one should be taken after initial registration remains unexplained. What compensation or support, beyond free flight transfers, airlines or authorities are providing to stranded passengers for additional costs and inconveniences has not been clearly communicated.
Whether there are any official investigations or audits planned into the implementation and enforcement of the EES at problematic airports like Milan Linate and Bergamo remains unknown. The tensions between border control authority responsibility and airline passenger handling obligations create complex accountability questions when travelers miss flights due to border delays.
These incidents underscore the operational challenges facing European border authorities as they implement new biometric systems. The repeated problems at Milan airports suggest systemic issues with EES enforcement in Italy that may require technical or procedural adjustments. Travelers are advised to arrive extra early for flights from affected airports until these issues are resolved.