A COUPLE’S holiday plans were left in ruins after Ryanair stopped them from boarding the plane because of their passport.
Abriella Monroe’s and her husband Sebastien had booked Ryanair flights to Tenerife.
Abriella, 32, and her husband Sebastien, 36, were planning to fly to the Spanish island to celebrate his birthday.
But were stopped from boarding the Ryanair plane due to a small tear along the spine of Sebastien’s passport.
Arriving at Manchester Airport two hours early for their flight, there didn’t appear to be a problem as they both checked-in without issue with their luggage being taken onto the plane.
Sebastien even managed to buy currency and spend money in duty free despite the fault with his passport.
But the pair were turned away at the gate after being told that Sebastien’s passport couldn’t be accepted.
Abriella told Manchester Evening News: “The man took a two second look at it and said ‘you can’t travel on that’. He said there was a slight rip in it and couldn’t accept it.
“We tried to reason with him and asked to speak to someone higher up, but it was no use.”
The pair were told they wouldn’t be able to board, and had to wait for their luggage and Abriella’s wheelchair to be taken off the plane, before having to leave the airport.
The couple explained they then went through the Border Force exit to the airport, who they said saw ‘no problem’ with Sebastien’s passport.
Abriella said they would “definitely be complaining to Ryanair”.
She added: “The passport is just slightly torn – we can fully see his details, passport number and his photograph.”
They said they would also be organising a new passport from Liverpool to avoid this happening again.
In response, a spokesperson for Ryanair said that the passport was ripped on the identification page at the seam and across the page which is why it wasn’t accepted..
A spokesperson told The Sun: “The UK Passport Office defines what constitutes as a damaged passport, not Ryanair.
“This passenger was correctly refused travel from Manchester to Tenerife (8 Jan) as his passport was damaged and therefore not valid for travel.”
Government guidelines on passports say that the HM Passport Office consider a passport to be damaged if details cannot be read; any of the pages are ripped, cut or missing; if there are holes, cuts or rips in the cover; the cover is coming away or there are stains on the pages.
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot has explained exactly what Brits need to know.
“Travellers used to be able to roll over up to nine unused months from their old passport onto a new one.
“But post-Brexit, anyone wanting to travel to the EU can no longer rely on those extra months.
“In order to travel to the EU, all passports must be no more than 10 years old on the day you arrive in your European destination.
“And you’ll need at least three months on your passport on the day you head back to the UK.
“Figures have shown up to 100,000 holidaymakers a year face being turned away at airports if their passport is more than 10 years old.
“The 10-year rule only applies to countries in the European Union but every country may have different rules on what is accepted – some countries like South Africa, for example, insist you have at least six months left on your passport when you travel and a full clear page.”
Countries like Bali are even stricter, with a number of people banned from flights for small tears or damage.
Another strict country is Vietnam – here is everything you need to know.
