What it's like to travel under Europe's new entry system: chaos, stranded passengers and fainting in Milan

122 easyJet passengers were stranded in Milan after a flight to Manchester left without them

Just two days after the EU's new Entry/Exit System (EES) was introduced, easyJet passengers flying from Milan to Manchester on Sunday 12 April not only faced hours-long queues, but the majority missed their flight altogether, thanks to the new border control checks.

Of the 156 passengers booked on the flight, it is reported that only 34 managed to board. The rest (122 people) were abandoned at Milan's Linate airport, scrambling to find a way to get home.

Some, it has been reported, even passed out and became ill due to the heat and the conditions in the queue, while others had to pay over £1,000 for new flights.

The Manchester-based Hume family, for example, told The Independent that they had arrived at the departure lounge three hours ahead of time, heeding the airline's warning of lengthy waiting times.

They still missed their flight and were instead offered an alternative one which departed five days later - but it would have costed them £330 to rebook, not to mention the extra accommodation fees.

Instead, the family, including two parents and their 13-year-old son, spent over £1,600 on a connecting flight via Luxembourg, which still meant arriving at their destination 24 hours later.

Similarly, the mother of 17-year-old Kiera paid for replacement flights for her daughter and her boyfriend, which set her back £520 and meant the pair would land at London Gatwick, not Manchester.

"We got here at seven-thirty for our flight at eleven so were super early," the teen told the BBC. "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.

"At about ten-fifty 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."

When she emailed easyJet about the situation, she says they replied offering her a total of £12.25 in compensation.

"We won't be able to buy a sandwich at the airport for that, and we're going to be stuck here until we can fly tomorrow," she added.

A spokesperson for easyJet told the publication: "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.