Ryanair stops gran from flying at UK airport after confusion over passport expiry

RYANAIR stopped a tearful gran from flying to Portugal after a passport mix-up.

Brexit rules on entering the EU say that passports must be less than 10 years old and have at least three months’ validity left on a passenger’s return date.

A Ryanair passport mix-up left a bewildered granny at the airport gate

But its customer service agent confirmed she should have been able to fly

But an airline blunder meant a party of two grandparents, two grandchildren and one mum, heading to Faro in Portugal, were split up at the gate.

Michele Hawken was barred from boarding the plane on April 26 despite having more than the required three months validity left on her travel document.

Nicky Ryland, from Wadebridge, Cornwall, a member of the disrupted party, said: “We had already checked in online and no problems.

“But then we were told one granny was not able to fly.

“We checked all regulations, such as as gov.uk, passports and the airport, etc., and all was OK.”

Nicky has since pointed out to Ryanair that Michele’s passport was both in date and issued within the past 10 years.

Michele’s passport was valid from May 15 2012.

A customer service advisor also confirmed Michele should have been able to fly.

Nicky added: “We were told it was ‘a no’ due to Ryanair regulations.

“We asked why when we could have gone with any other airline and come home with Ryanair and, as you can imagine, there were lots of tears and upset.

“We have heard several cases of this happening but we had two grandchildren involved and everyone was so upset.”

Ryanair has recently come under fire for a number of similar at-the-gate decisions across the country.

Nicky said: “It’s awful. We always go away as friends and this was meant to be special as a surprise to the grandchildren.

“We packed their suitcases in secret and everything.

“They thought they were coming to the airport to wave us off.

“We’re all devastated and can’t understand how this happened and why nothing flagged up when we checked-in in advance.”

A Ryanair spokesman said in a statement: “This passenger was correctly refused travel at Cornwall Airport Newquay on 26 April last as her passport did not meet the entry requirements for travel to the EU (Portugal) which are: Passports must be issued within 10 years of the date of departure into the EU.

“The passport must be valid for at least three months from the return date of travel from the EU.

“Ms. Hawken’s passport was issued on 15 May 2012 and is therefore no longer valid for travel to/from the EU after 15 February 2022 (which is 3 months before the 10 year anniversary of issue on 15 May 2022).

“Therefore, she did not have the required 3 months validity remaining on her passport before her flight on 26 April 2022.

“Ryanair requires each passenger to ensure that their passport is valid for travel (as set out in 1 & 2 above) on both the date of their outbound and return flight dates.”