The long-delayed full implementation of the EU's new electronic border control system on Friday (April 10) has sparked travel chaos across Europe, with airlines reporting that passengers have missed flights due to prolonged security checks. The Entry/Exit System (EES) electronically records the passport and biometric data of third-country nationals, including Brits, travelling to the EU for short stays.

However, as the UK Easter holidays continue, European airports and airlines have complained that the EES is causing holdups of between two and three hours during peak times and have called on the European Commission to introduce "greater flexibility" into its operation. "Border control authorities must be able to suspend the EES entirely when waiting times become excessive. This is essential not only in the coming weeks, but throughout the peak summer travel season," said Oliver Jankovek, director of the Airports Council International Europe (ACI), in a statement.

"Europe's reputation as an accessible and efficient tourist and business destination is at stake, especially given that air transport is already facing significant disruptions due to the current situation in the Middle East," Mr Jankovek added.

Although the EU Commission maintains that, on average, checking in a traveller using this system takes around 70 seconds, European airlines have stated that there have been "significant disruptions to air operations, with passengers missing their flights due to prolonged border checks".

"For example, a flight bound for the UK had 51 fewer passengers at the time of departure. Another flight had no passengers on board when the boarding gate closed, and 90 minutes later, 12 passengers had still not arrived at the gate," ACI explained in a statement issued jointly with European airlines.

Meanwhile, easyJet passengers were reportedly left "vomiting and passing out" after being stranded in Italy. About 100 people were marooned in Linate Airport in Milan while waiting to board a flight to Manchester. Facing queues of up to three hours, passengers felt unwell from the heat and were unsure how to get home. The airline said it was doing its best to aid passengers - but admitted the situation was "out of control", blaming the EES, which it said was "unacceptable".

One passenger travelling with her boyfriend said it cost her mother £520 to book new flights to Gatwick rather than Manchester. Kiera, 17, from Oldham, told the BBC she had been offered just £12.25 by the airline in compensation for her missed flight. She estimated that only 30 people boarded the plane before it took off and she will be stuck in the airport until her flight to London on Tuesday.

She said: "We got here at 7.30am for our flight at 11am 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. At about 10.50am 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."

A spokesperson for the European Commission acknowledged that "despite the agreed timetable, some Member States are encountering technical difficulties," without specifying what those difficulties are and stated that they are "in close contact" with the Member States to resolve them.

The EES system was meant to be implemented in October last year, but was finally fully operational on Friday.