A British couple on holiday were left horrified after their son was put on a different flight and sent to a different country this morning.
The incident occurred after they were separated from him in a busy airport in Menorca, Spain, ahead of their scheduled Tui flight back to London Stansted.
Police checked CCTV cameras and discovered the 15-year-old had managed to get past security and board a flight heading to Milan Malpensa Airport instead.
The boy’s mum is now flying to Italy later today to bring him back to the UK.
Spanish police confirmed this afternoon they had helped locate the youngster after he became separated from his mum and dad.
A well-placed source said: ‘They were due to catch Tui flight BY5107 back to London Stansted Airport this morning but became separated.
‘The boy’s parents ended up reporting him missing, and that led to police intervention.’
A spokesman for the National Police in Majorca said: ‘Officers checked cameras in the departures area and saw the teenager had managed to get onto a flight to Milan.
‘The airport had already activated its missing child alert system, but it was deactivated after it was confirmed the lad was on his way to Italy.’
It was not immediately clear this afternoon how the youngster, who, according to local reports, may suffer autism, managed to board easyJet flight U23762, which left Menorca around 9.25am this morning, without a valid ticket.
The Tui flight was due to leave at 10.25am local time and ended up departing 45 minutes behind schedule.
One airport insider suggested the boy could have evaded the normal security checks in place after the boarding gate had already closed and staff checking passports and tickets had left their posts.
Airline staff are said to have realised a passenger without the proper ticket was on board during the flight.
The British family at the centre of this morning’s drama have not been identified.
It is not known whether they were travelling with other children, and exactly where in the airport, and how the teenager became separated from his parents.
An easyJet spokesman said: ‘We are investigating with the airport and our ground handling provider at Mahon how a young passenger was able to travel unaccompanied on the wrong flight to Milan this morning.
‘The passenger was met by our team and the local authorities in Milan and we have provided travel arrangements for a family member to meet them today. We remain in touch with the family to offer our support.
‘easyJet works closely with all of our airports to ensure the safety and security of all passengers.’